July 2024 Newsletter

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

By: Mike Davis

Utah Water Users. Get ready for the heat! Well, we have started off doing real well on reservoir storage and general water use. It really was a great winter. However, we are getting a little short on the rain lately. Its time to do the rain dance if you have one. With the heat that is forecast, we will definitely need some of that rain. Also, a bit of rain would help the wild fire situation. I love it when there is good news to talk about. The bad news is there is an election this year. If you get a chance to speak with any of the candidates, it might be good to get their take on water issues. It may be that they don’t even have accurate information on water issues. That is why we need to stay involved and ready to give accurate information to our political leaders. Water issues are becoming more and more political and water providers and agriculture could take some unnecessary hits. Let’s get the accurate word out! We have come a long way on water accountability and many good things are going on all across the State to use less water and protect our ability to use it. We need to keep pushing the real news. We, as members of Utah Water Users, are in an unique position to put accurate information out to the public. I do believe that generally, the public wants to do the right thing, but, there is a lot of misinformation out there. Thank goodness we have all of you. I watch with interest the new water use plans and the effort some of our public agencies are putting out there to try and help all of us as we face some of these challenges. It is not going away and our valuable resource, water, is only going to get more challenging and difficult to manage. Thank you for all you do to help with water in the State. You are all our hope of a better water future.

WATER OUTLOOK

By: Jordon Clayton

“Utah’s SNOTEL sites received a meager 0.6 inches of precipitation during June, which is only 55% of normal. This brings our statewide water year to date precipitation to 105% of normal. As of July 1st statewide mountain soil moisture was still above normal, at 50% of saturation, reflecting the final stages of snowmelt for 2024. In Utah’s valleys June precipitation was normal or above-normal in every region except for the St. George area. We received 0.7 inches of precipitation at our SCAN sites, which brings the water year accumulation (October-June) to 107% of median for Utah’s valleys. Statewide soil moisture at Utah’s SCAN sites ended the month at 42% of saturation, which is a few percent lower than last year at this time. Unfortunately, valley soils in the St. George region continue to hover around the driest they have been since those SCAN sites were installed. To the east, southeastern Utah saw notable increases in soil moisture following the intense rainfall in that area in late June that resulted in significant flash flooding. Utah’s reservoir storage continues to be in excellent shape. Statewide storage is currently at 91% of capacity, which is the same as last month and the highest since 2011. All of Utah’s major basins are at 80% of capacity or above except for the Upper and Lower Sevier watersheds. Water Availability Indices (WAIs) for Utah basins are at normal (50th percentile) or above for all of Utah’s major basins except for the Lower Sevier (27th percentile).

Please also note that the Utah Snow Survey team completed the installation of a new SNOTEL site called Mill Creek Canyon in June. This site automates the pre-existing (manual) snow course “Mill Creek” and has a standard sensor configuration. Data are publicly-available every hour, though (as with all of our SNOTEL sites) only the midnight (daily) values are official (other hourly data are not quality-controlled and remain provisional). These data will help inform water supply forecasts for Mill Creek as well as serving other important functions.”

WATER AND THE LAW

CASE LAW UPDATE: APPURTENANCE OF WATER SHARES

By Jeffry R. Gittins, Smith Hartvigsen

The Utah Court of Appeals recently issued its decision in the case of Zundel v. Ramsdell. The case focused on the issue of whether water shares were included in a land transaction based on appurtenance and the wording of the deed.

Robert Brough (through his Trust) owned 17 acres of farmland in Box Elder County, which was irrigated with 15.87 shares of stock in Bear River Canal Company. In 2007, the Trust conveyed the property to Brough Properties LLC, and the deed stated that the conveyance included “all water rights appurtenant thereto, if any.” The Trust did not, however, transfer any water shares to Brough Properties. In 2011, Brough Properties sold the land to the Zundels. Nothing was said about water, but the Zundels expected to receive some water shares. No shares were ever transferred to the Zundels. Instead, the Trust transferred the water shares to Robert’s daughters, with instructions that they not transfer any shares to the Zundels. In 2019, the Zundels filed suit against the daughters, seeking to quiet title to the water shares.

The Zundels’ primary argument asserted that the water shares were appurtenant (or attached) to the land, and therefore the shares passed with the land when the land was conveyed from the Trust to Brough Properties, and then from Brough Properties to the Zundels. The case ultimately went to trial, and the jury determined that the water shares were appurtenant to the land, but that the Trust did not intend to transfer the water shares to Brough Properties. The Zundels attempted to challenge the jury’s determinations, but the district court ultimately ruled that the daughters (and not the Zundels) were the legal owners of the shares. The Zundels then appealed.

At the time of the 2007 conveyance, the law was that water shares did not automatically pass with land, but that presumption could be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence (1) that the water shares were appurtenant to the land and (2) that the grantor intended to transfer the water shares to the grantee. The court determined that the deed from the Trust to Brough Properties, which included “all water rights,” was ambiguous about whether the Trust intended to transfer the water shares — particularly because the court noted that there is a difference between water rights and water shares. The court also noted that there was sufficient evidence that the Trust did not intend to transfer the water shares to Brough Properties, including evidence that Robert had transferred water shares separate from land in the past and had also transferred other land without water shares. Based on these determinations, the court held that the daughters (and not the Zundels) were the legal owners of the water shares.

It should be noted that this decision has limited applicability because in 2013, the Utah legislature modified the law to make it more clear that water shares are not appurtenant to land.

RESERVOIR UPDATE

By Gary Henrie – Bureau of Reclamation

Spring runoff into reservoirs overseen by Reclamation was good for a second straight year. As anticipated, overall runoff was 100-150% of average, with lower runoff (50-100% of average) in the eastern Uinta Basin. Unseasonably high temperatures around the time of peak runoff led to some higher-than-anticipated peak inflows, leading to increased coordination and tightened reservoir operations. For a second straight year, reservoir operators did an excellent job of managing high inflows while filling the reservoirs. Well done!

Current reservoir storage levels are excellent. The current storage at the 22 federal storage reservoirs overseen by Reclamation in Utah (excluding Flaming Gorge and Lake Powell) is at 99% full as of July 1, higher than the normal of 85% full—with individual reservoir storage ranging from 78-100% full and 18 out of 22 reservoirs currently being above average storage levels. Twenty out of the 22 reservoirs filled completely this spring, including Strawberry Reservoir, which was able to top-off for the first time since 2011! Due to lower snow levels in the Upper Green and mainstem Colorado Basins, Lake Powell saw a below-average runoff (approx. 85% of normal) but will likely still be able to peak nearly 2.5 feet higher than last year’s peak water level (elevation 3584.7 feet).
With runoff inflows now receding toward base flow levels and water use in full swing, reservoir levels are gradually coming down. With continued conservation efforts and wise water use, overall reservoir storage should end the water year well above normal and leave us with good carryover storage into water year 2025.

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR’S CORNER

By: Carly Burton

Lake Powell Update

Well here goes my nerdy discussion about water trivia. Except in this case, I think you will find this data interesting. So Lake Powell reached its peak on July 10 at elevation 3587.17. This represents an increase of close to 30 feet during the spring runoff period. Not too shabby considering that the snowpack this year was far less than in 2023. We still have a long way to go since the peak elevation is still 113 feet below the full level. The good news is that all launch ramps at Bullfrog are open for now. Let’s hope the lake doesn’t drop too much this summer, especially since I am planning a boating trip in September.

Utah Water Summit Conference

The Summit Committee has been busy putting together another great agenda for the Summit which will be held on Tuesday, October 15 at the Davis Convention Center. The theme is “Water, Water Everywhere-
But Will It last?” The topics include Great Salt Lake Recovery Update, Colorado River Update,
State of the Water Districts-Urban, State of the Districts-Rural, Water Conservation Program Update, Water Supply Outlook and Reservoir Storage and Legislative Update on Water Bills. We are very close to a final agenda and we will be posting the brochure on our website at www.utahwaterusers.com. We look forward to seeing you there.