January 2021 Newsletter

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

By Gene Shawcroft

Dear Friends,
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I hope you all had a great holiday season. It seems the years move more rapidly than ever, except for the year we had since last March!

Last year at this time we were thinking 2020 would be a year of perfect vision. Didn’t turn out that way. Little did we know what was ahead. We had what looked like an above-normal snowpack and had only heard mostly rumors of some weird virus in China. Both of these hit our water industry in a very significant way.

Fortunately, vaccines have been developed and there is light at the end of a very complex virus/pandemic tunnel. With much discussion among the board, we have concluded to move forward with our workshop, but delay it a couple of months. I look forward to rubbing shoulders with all of you, even if it is with a mask!

Our second challenge is unfortunately longer term. Since the middle of March, our precipitation has been pathetic. Some of the driest 6-month periods of record have occurred this year. In fact, with the exception of a couple above normal years, the last 20 years have been incredibly dry, by some records the driest in recorded history. Oh that we could develop a vaccine to prevent drought!

No one knows how long these dry conditions will last, but I know there will be change as there always is in the weather patterns. I also know that there are no better water professionals than the ones we have in our state. We have proven our resiliency multiple times in various situations. There will just be new challenges with more significant consequences.

I’m grateful to be associated with you all, for your professional competence, your commitment to those your serve, and most importantly your friendship!

And more than ever, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!!
Gene

WATER OUTLOOK

By Jordan Clayton (NRCS)

Utah’s extremely dry soils and low antecedent streamflow means that we will need a well above-average snowpack this winter to produce fairly average runoff conditions. Unfortunately, current snowpack levels are nowhere close to where they need to be for that.

As a result, streamflow forecasts for April to July snowmelt runoff volume are generally between 30 and 70% of average, with some alarming low flow amounts predicted for the Bear River at Stewart Dam, Weber River at Gateway, and Mammoth and Sevier Rivers at Hatch. However, January 1 forecasts have significant uncertainty compared with those issued during spring months (closer to peak snowpack conditions) and are meant to be advisory only.

Adding insult to injury, Utah’s reservoir storage is currently only at 63% of capacity, down 78% from last year. Utah desperately needs significant snow to start piling up

WEATHER OUTLOOK

BY GLEN MERRILL (NWS)

It’s never a good sign when fire weather season lasts a month longer than it should. This was the case in 2020 as the trend of record or near record breaking dry conditions and above normal temperatures continued into and through much of October. There were only a few notable storm events during the month, but they were anomalies in their own right with limited precipitation accompanying them. A strong cold front dropped temps 20+ degrees and brought the first tangible signs of light mountain snow in the second week of October, then late in the month another strong fall storm brought another downslope wind event to the Wasatch Front with gusts to 60 mph and wind chills to -10F in Davis County. We experienced brief cold snaps and some damaging winds, but little in the way of precipitation. In all, the story remained the same old broken record as it had leading into the beginning of the 2021 water year, with statewide precipitation ending up less than 30 percent of normal for the month, and temperatures ranging from +3-+5 degrees above normal in the north, and up to +7 degrees above in the south. The pattern driving this was high pressure remaining strong along the Pacific coast, limiting both the frequency of storms and the available moisture accompanying as they were largely continentally based and dropping in from the north. The first week and a half in November brought hope, especially to northern and central Utah, as the high pressure weakened along the coast allowing a series of winter storms to move through the area from the northwest. This is quite normal for a La Nina year and was a good sign heading deeper into the cold season, briefly. Mountain snowpack across the northern half of the state approached or slightly exceeded normal values in wake of these storms, but this positive ended up being short lived, and the southern mountains were largely left out to dry. Strong high pressure built back into the Great Basin region heading into the middle of November and persisted through the end, shifting the mean storm track well north into the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. Several areas recorded their all-time record high temperatures for the month during this period, with Logan, Salt Lake City, and Cedar City reaching values never seen in the month of November, while St. George reported their second warmest November temperature on record. In all, precipitation ended up near or slightly above normal across northeastern Utah, 70-90 percent of normal in the northern/central mountains, but below 70 percent in the south. High pressure across the west did finally weaken heading into the second week of December, and the Pacific storm track began dropping lower in latitude for the remainder of the month allowing a higher frequency of storm events, but most were weakening upon arrival yielding only light snowfall. There was one storm a few days after Christmas that did hit central and southern portions of state quite nicely bringing 12-18” of snow to the southern mountains, and 10+” to the Escalante area, but the SWE only dented the large deficit in precipitation that’s accrued since April of last year. All in all, most areas across the state received less than 50% of average precipitation for the month and the deficit continued to grow. Looking forward I wish I had better news for January, but the pattern just isn’t showing signs of shaping up in the near future. Especially for what we need. Outlooks favor warmer than normal temperatures and maintenance of below average precipitation through late month. Long range models depict strong ridging developing along the west coast by mid-month, this once again forcing storm events well north of Utah. Leading up to that, just a few modest at best storms favoring the north. With over two-thirds of the state in Exceptional Drought (the highest intensity), and over 90 percent in Extreme Drought, I wish I had better news.

Water & the Law

CASE LAW UPDATE: ARAVE v. PINEVIEW WEST WATER CO.
By Jeffry R. Gittins (SMITH HARTVIGSEN, PLLC)

The Utah Supreme Court recently issued its decision in the case of Arave v. Pineview West Water Company. This case focused on issues of interference with well water rights.

The Araves and other plaintiffs had water rights that allowed them to divert water from two wells for their two homes and a bed and breakfast. Most of these water rights were established in the 1960s and 1970s. Pineview West Water Company (“PWCC”) had a larger, junior water right that is allowed to be diverted from deeper and stronger wells to supply water to 70 homes and irrigate 20 acres. One of PWCC’s wells is located only a few hundred feet from the plaintiffs’ wells. When the PWCC well was first test pumped in 2004, it affected one of the plaintiffs’ wells almost immediately. Within hours, the well was unable to pump any water and was sucking air, which resulted in silt damage to the two homes. A subsequent test yielded the same results. The plaintiffs’ other well also experienced issues, albeit to a lesser degree. To resolve the issue, PWCC connected the plaintiffs to its water system and provided them with water for a flat rate of $20 per month. Several years later, however, PWCC sought to increase the fees to match the fees paid by other PWCC customers. When negotiations broke down, the plaintiffs brought this lawsuit claiming interference with water rights, negligence, and nuisance.

Following a four-day trial, the district court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs on their interference and negligence claims. The court concluded that when PWCC’s well was operating, it deprived the plaintiffs’ first well of “virtually all water” and obstructed the second well’s ability to produce water. The court also concluded that PWCC had been negligent in locating, drilling, and using its well in such close proximity to the plaintiffs’ wells. The court ordered PWCC to stop pumping its well unless it could demonstrate that it could do so without interfering with the plaintiffs’ two wells or, in the alternative, to provide replacement water to the plaintiffs at no cost to the plaintiffs. The court also awarded PWCC to pay approximately $50,000 in compensatory damages to the plaintiffs. PWCC appealed the decision to the Utah Supreme Court.

The Court began by laying out the elements of an interference claim. To prevail on an interference claim, a plaintiff must establish that (1) they have an enforceable water right; (2) their water right is senior to the defendant’s water rights; (3) their methods and means of diversion are reasonable; (4) despite their reasonable efforts, they are unable to obtain the quantity or quality of water to which they are entitled; and (5) the defendant’s conduct obstructed or hindered their ability to obtain that water.

The Court determined that the district court had made insufficient findings regarding the third and fourth elements. With respect to the third element, the district court had not made findings about whether the plaintiffs could have lowered their pumps or modified their wells to reach the available water. With respect to the fourth element, the plaintiffs had not offered evidence about how much water they used or how much of their allowed water they were not able to obtain (due in part to the fact that the plaintiffs did not have a meter on their wells).

Thus, the Court reversed the district court’s ruling that PWCC’s well had interfered with the plaintiffs’ two wells. Because the district court’s negligence determination was related to its interference determination, the Court remanded the negligence claim back to the district court for further fact finding and analysis. The Court also vacated a portion of the compensatory damage award and remanded to the district court to revisit the calculation of compensatory damages based on the reversal of the interference determination.

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTORS CORNER

By Carly Burton

UPDATE ON UTAH WATER USERS
WORKSHOP FOR 2021

We have again rescheduled the Utah Water Users Workshop for 2021. It has been moved from March to May 17-19, 2021 at the Dixie Center in St. George. The conference was moved to allow sufficient time for Covid-19 vaccinations to occur. If you registered for the 2020 Workshop, you will still be registered for 2021. If you requested and received a refund you will need to re-register with USU Conference Services. You can contact them by phone at 435-538-4663 or on-line at register.online@usu.edu. If you have any questions call Carly Burton at 801-560-2533. The program will be the same as 2020. We will be mailing out a new brochure in February, 2021. Thanks for your patience.

WATER SUMMIT UPDATE

The Utah Water Summit Conference has been rescheduled for October 11-12, 2021. Please mark your calendars – more details to follow.

NEW MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENT

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our newest member to the Association. Information about their firm is as follows:

Prime Machine Inc. & Prime Field Service (PMI, PFS)

Based out of Salt Lake City, UT, Prime Machine Inc and Prime Field Service provide machining, mechanical, welding and measurement services to hydro stations throughout the West. For 32 years, Prime Machine has been an integral part of Utah’s industrial repair world. From small, historic turbines to 1,000+ MW world class generators, Prime Machine performs maintenance on critical power generating equipment.

Contact Prime Machine Inc. for information about repairs, rates, and availability. 801-556- 5295. www.primemachine.com