July 2023 Newsletter

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

By: Mike Davis

What a spring we had. With the record snowfall, I was expecting challenges with runoff as many of you were, too. It was an amazing thing to see how well the water came down. We were truly blessed and I join Governor Cox in offering prayers of thanks for how well it all happened. Full streams and reservoirs are certainly something we have not seen for a while. With all the water we have received, we need to not forget the challenges the last years have given us with water shortages. I think we have learned better ways to manage water supplies and better ways to use the water in order to protect our greatest resource. We need to continue to learn better practices to do the best to wisely use our water. We won’t always have such great water years and developing better practices now will help us greatly when we have shortages next time. All involved deserve a tremendous thanks for the way things were managed this year. We have such wise and experienced water managers.

The next challenge this year will come from all the growth of grasses and other plants in our watersheds. Things are now drying out and the potential for wildfires is greatly increasing. We can do our part to prevent wildfires that are sure to come. These fires greatly damage our watersheds and so we, as water users, have a great interest to protect the watersheds. All of our members understand the importance of watershed protection and not only can we do our part, we can also help others understand how important that protection is. Now it is summertime and it is time to harvest and enjoy the beauty that we all live in. I look forward to a great summer and hope you all do as well.

WATER OUTLOOK

By Jordan Clayton (NRCS)

“Precipitation in Utah’s mountains was well above normal for June- mostly due to storm activity during the first two-thirds of the month. Overall, this resulted in 1.6” of accumulation, which is well above normal at 161%. Of Utah’s 16 major watersheds, all had above normal mountain precipitation during June (ranging from 113 to 477%) except for Southeastern Utah (100%). As of July 1st, statewide soil moisture in Utah’s mountains was well above normal at 60% of saturation, which is 11% higher than last year at this time. This clearly reflects the aftermath of our phenomenal snowpack season in Utah’s mountains.

Along those same lines, Utah’s reservoir storage is currently at 86% of capacity, which is a whopping 28% higher than last year at this time! In fact, every major basin’s reservoir supply improved substantively from this year’s snowmelt runoff—so much so that several basins are at their capacity for reservoir storage (Weber-Ogden, Price, Southeastern Utah, and Beaver watersheds) and several others are close to full (Tooele Valley, Duchesne, San Pitch, Northeastern Uintas, Southwestern Utah, and Provo watersheds). Water Availability Indices (WAIs) for Utah basins combine current reservoir conditions with observed streamflow for each region. WAIs are in the top 25th percentile for 14 of Utah’s 18 major basins, which is a drastic improvement from last year and reflects the outstanding snowpack and runoff season we experienced. That said, Utah’s largest water bodies (Bear Lake, Sevier Bridge Reservoir, the Great Salt Lake, and Lake Powell) still need a LOT of water, so it will continue to be important to use our water resources wisely this summer.”

WEATHER OUTLOOK

By Glen Merrill (NWS)

Given the record snowpack in place the first week of April, including highly anomalous low and mid elevation snowpack on all aspects, the 2023 snowmelt runoff was about as perfect as we all could have asked for. Thank the weather for that! During the second week of April, High Pressure built over the state and brought the first significant warm up with temperatures reaching up to 20 degrees above normal. This accelerated snowmelt, resulting in increased runoff, priming many streams, creeks, and rivers with increased flows. This was also needed to begin pulling that record snowpack down in pieces. Low- and mid-elevation watersheds responded most significantly, including along the Wasatch Front, where the first flood stages were exceeded during this period.

Additional to this, impactful sheet flooding occurred in many higher elevation valley areas, most significantly across northern Utah. But this initial warmup was of the episodic nature, and right as the higher elevation watersheds began to ripen, cooler temperatures returned and dampened peak flows for the low-mid elevation watersheds once again. As temperatures continued to climb through May and into June, the melting off of the record snowpack continued with several mid and high elevation watersheds exceeding flood stage on NWS-known river gages, some for a prolonged period of time. But given the early April setup, experiencing this more isolated flooding vs. widespread and potentially historical, was a best-case scenario.

Temperatures in May were 3-5 degrees above normal in northern Utah, including an all-time record for mean temperature at the Salt Lake City Airport for the month, but near normal for the southern half of the state. Precipitation was near normal across the southeast, but below to well below normal for the majority of the state. Daily showers and thunderstorms more representative of summer-time monsoonal conditions were the norm, but isolated in nature minimizing rain on snow impact during peak run-off.

Larger scale spring storms that are more typical of the month, ones that would have exacerbated peak flow potential, never materialized. Cloud cover suppressed daily peak melt rates, and though temperatures were what they were, they never became excessive and remained steady in trend. The outcome, carried into June, was a prolonged period of very high flow volumes stretched out over time, and suppressed peak flows (in large) across the region, even for the higher elevation watersheds.

June was spectacular for Utah, 3-5+ degrees below normal temperature-wise, with near normal precipitation. Again, no larger scale spring storms were realized (not unlikely to have at least one within the first 10 days of the month), and those diurnal showers/storms persisted well into the month. But now we’ve dried and transitioned into the summer heat as to be expected, given that late July is the hottest period annually climatologically. Real heat, potentially record breaking in many areas, forecast through late July.

Where’s the monsoon? Good question. Given deep snowpack across the west/southwest into the early summer, high soil moisture values across the region, and weak on-shore flow continuing into early July, the atmospheric conditions necessary for monsoonal development have been delayed. Other factors driving the larger scale atmospheric circulations, such as a transition from La Nina to El Nino across the tropical eastern pacific, not only aid delay, but also suppress strength of the monsoon in time. As always, time will tell, but all indicators point to a delayed and weaker monsoon, especially for northern Utah, and warmer than normal summer-time temperatures on average, through September.

RESERVOIR STORAGE UPDATE

By Gary Henrie (USBR)

If April showers bring May flowers, what does winter snow bring? Full reservoirs! Utah received a lot of snow this winter. In fact, we had record-breaking snow water equivalent in parts of the state (and in statewide statistics) early this spring. That large snowpack is exactly what we hope for in our arid state with our low reservoir storage and shrinking Great Salt Lake and Lake Powell.

However, with great water, comes great responsibility. Big water years require reservoir managers to balance priorities. This spring, water managers closely monitored snowpack, streamflow, reservoir, and weather conditions together with runoff forecasts to keep reservoir levels low enough to capture peak inflows and help mitigate flooding downstream, but also high enough to ensure reservoirs fill before inflows drop off and demands/releases increase. The significant increase in snowpack and the corresponding increases in runoff forecasts that we saw in the month of March kicked reservoir operations into high gear and led to many of the 22 Bureau of Reclamation Provo Office’s reservoirs in Utah releasing water to keep space available to manage high runoff inflows. Reservoir operations stayed in high gear until after inflows peaked and receded back down to easily manageable levels, for many higher elevation basins flows didn’t recede until mid- to late-June.

While our actual April-July runoff volumes aren’t going to hit record levels and are turning out to be lower than we were expecting earlier this spring, 2023 still brought an eventful and at times a quite exciting runoff. The water districts and associations that operate the reservoirs did an excellent job of hitting the flood mitigation-storage balance this spring and have earned any praise they received. To everyone involved in working through this year’s runoff-well done!

Of the 22 Reclamation Provo Office reservoirs from Newton in the north to Scofield in the south, and Willard Bay in the west to Red Fleet in the east, 21 filled (Strawberry reached 90% full). Most are gradually coming down now but are still near full; by the end of the water season most will still have significant storage to carry over into next year. Flaming Gorge and Lake Powell (managed by Reclamation’s Upper Colorado Regional Office in Salt Lake City) have both seen significant increases in storage. While it would take many years like this for Lake Powell to fill, the nearly 65-foot rise in water level since mid-April is definitely a step in the right direction.

2023 gave us an excellent runoff and great reservoir storage levels. Let’s hope we can continue to see water like this in the coming years.

WATER & THE LAW

SMITH HARTVIGSEN, PLLC

CASE LAW UPDATE: STREAM ACCESS

By Jeffry R. Gittins

The Utah Supreme Court recently issued its decision in Utah Stream Access Coalition v. VR Acquisitions LLC. This case focused on one question: “whether there was a 19th-century basis for an easement providing the public with the right to touch privately owned streambeds underlying state waters.”

In the 2008 decision in Conatser v. Johnson, the Utah Supreme Court established a broad public easement to utilize the beds of Utah’s waterways for recreational purposes. In response to this decision, the Utah legislature adopted the Public Water Access Act in 2010. The Act placed restrictions on the broad easement recognized under Conatser. Specifically, the Act restricted recreational access to water on public property and to waterways that are navigable.

In 2010, Utah Stream Access Coalition (USAC) filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Act under several different arguments. The district court originally ruled against USAC on the majority of its claims, but did rule that the Act violated the public trust doctrine found in Article XX, Section 1 of the Utah Constitution. That decision was previously appealed to the Utah Supreme Court, who reversed the district court’s decision and sent the case back to the district court to determine if the Conatser easement was “in line with the sort of public access right that our law would have dictated at the time of the framing of the Utah Constitution.”

After hearing additional evidence and argument from the parties, the district court determined that USAC was unable to show that there was a “historical basis as a public easement at the time of the framing of the Utah Constitution” and therefore held that the Act was not unconstitutional. USAC then appealed to the Utah Supreme Court for a second time.

The Court first looked at the modern caselaw that USAC cited in support of the public easement. The Court determined that these cases were the product of common-law developments in the 20th and 21st centuries, and were therefore inapplicable to the status of the law in 1896 when the Utah Constitution was adopted. The Court then examined the customs and practices of early Utahns that USAC asserted in support of an “easement by custom.” The Court concluded that USAC did not carry its burden in establishing a legal basis for a Conatser easement based on the 19th century customs and practices of Utahns. Finally, the Court examined USAC’s argument that 19th century federal laws suggested the existence of a Conatser easement. The Court determined that the federal laws were irrelevant because they related to the appropriative use of water, and not the public’s use of easements for accessing the bed of waterways.

In sum, the Utah Supreme Court upheld the district court’s determination that there is not a historical basis for the type of public easement established by the Conatser case. This therefore means that the Public Water Access Act is constitutional in its current form.

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTORS CORNER

By Carly Burton

Now that the Water Users Workshop is in the rear view mirror, it is time to start thinking about the Utah Water Summit. Mark your calendars for September 26th at the Davis Convention Center in Layton, Utah. This year’s theme will be “Drought Cycles to Wet Cycles – What’s Next? We are pretty close to the final agenda with topics including:

  • Great Salt lake Recovery & History
  • Successes of Flood Control Infrastructure Planning
  • Water Supply Outlook & Reservoir Storage
  • Lake Powell – Water Supply and Agreements with the Other Basin States
  • Water Conservation Programs
  • Legislative Update on Water Bills
  • Deer Creek Intake Project Update

The program, including registration information, will be put on our website by August 10. We look forward to seeing you there.