November 2022 Newsletter

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
By: Rodney Banks

We have said goodbye to one water year and have greeted the new water year with much trepidation. So far, it has not been anything to write home about.

Recently, my wife and I visited upstate New York. While we were there, we visited several places that were created over long periods of time by water. Our objective was to see as many waterfalls as we could. We were spellbound at times by the many beautiful things we saw. I admit that I was jealous at times by the amount of water these locations enjoy. As my wife and I were walking through one of the beautiful towns we were visiting, we visited a local shop and struck up a conversation with the owner of the establishment. As we were talking and exchanging the typical pleasantries, the topic of water and drought came up when we let him know where we were from. In this gentleman’s very friendly way he informed us that they too had been in a drought. He told us that at one point during the summer it had not rained for thirty days and that had caused them great concern. I was momentarily taken back by his response as I thought about Utah’s struggle with a twenty plus year drought. It reminded me that our perspectives are very different, even in the state of Utah, of the effects of drought. I was also reminded that the approach to and possible solutions for the drought can be very different as well.

As a water community we should continue to be respectful as we engage in dialog regarding drought and other water issues. The current drought has had a large impact on all of us. My hope is that we will continue to go outside of our comfort zones and convey the message of how important water is and what it will take to manage our limited water supply for the citizens of this great state.

Thank you for your tremendous efforts every day. Now that we are approaching winter, I think we are all hoping for lots of snow and cooler weather as we go forward over the next several months.

WATER OUTLOOK
BY Jordan Clayton (NRCS)

The 2022 water year ended at 97% of normal precipitation at Utah’s SNOTEL sites. We used that value along with the previous two water years’ precipitation totals to determine the total precipitation deficits relative to normal at both the statewide and basin levels. Some areas of Utah are not terribly deep in the hole, precipitation-wise, such as the Northeastern Uintas and Southwestern Utah. Contrastingly, many areas of the state need a very large amount of water to ‘catch up’, so to speak, such as the Lower Sevier, Raft, Tooele Valley-Vernon Creek, and Weber-Ogden basins—all of which have deficits exceeding 17”. If we express those precipitation deficits as a percentage of the normal amount of rain and snow that those basins typically receive in a given year, the Lower Sevier stands out as the most alarming at 74%. Other basins with exceptionally high percentages are the Tooele Valley-Vernon Creek, Escalante, Raft, Upper Sevier, Beaver, and Weber-Ogden—all of which are 50% or above. This implies that those basins would need ~150% of normal precipitation (or more) to get back to normal levels of moisture. At the statewide level, the total deficit is around 12”, which is roughly 43% of what Utah normally gets in a year.

Soil moisture levels at Utah’s SNOTEL sites are at 38% of saturation, up 2% from last year and hovering slightly above normal for this time of year. Soils are likely to remain at or above average moisture levels because we are now entering the fall season when our mountain soils don’t lose as much moisture to evapotranspiration compared with summer months. As was the case last spring, the moist soils should help with runoff efficiency during next spring’s snowmelt season as long as we receive an average or above amount of snow.

Statewide, Utah’s reservoirs are at 42% of capacity, down 3% from last year. We continue to be concerned about the Sevier, Beaver, and San Pitch watersheds, where reservoir storage is exceptionally low. Water Availability Indices (WAIs) for Utah basins combine current reservoir conditions with observed streamflow for each region. WAIs remain at historically low levels (bottom 15th percentile) for 4 of Utah’s 18 major basins (Upper and Lower Sevier, Beaver, and San Pitch). Conversely, the Moab, Smiths Fork, Blacks Fork, Little Bear, Weber, and Virgin watersheds all have WAIs that are above normal for this time of year. Cheers – Jordan

WEATHER OUTLOOK
BY Glen Merrill (NWS)

Looking back over the July-September period there was one notable standout regarding records set across the state of Utah, and that was focused on temperatures.

Temperatures were the warmest on record over those three months, with a period of record dating back to 1895. The greatest anomalies were focused over northern and western Utah running up to 20 degrees above normal from late August into mid-September, with the official climate site at the Salt Lake Airport even tying its hottest day on record of 107 F on September 7, 2022. September is usually the month when we start noticing a transition towards the cool season, but the summer just didn’t want to give up. Neither did the robust monsoon of 2022, as periodic surges continued to impact the area. In all, the monsoon of 2022 sits on the podium of top three for the most Flash Flood Warnings issued by NWS SLC.

Water Year 2022 was fair at best, with Utah only seeing 6 years warmer, while it was the 39th driest on record (POR 19). Since September 30th however, the roller coaster of weather we all are used to in Utah has reared its head, and we’ve trended cooler and wetter. Our seasonal transition has taken form with a few cool season storms bringing periods of well below normal temperatures and snow to even some of our valleys over the last few weeks. The beginnings of the WY 2023 snowpack is also in place, especially on the highest north facing mountain areas across the state.

Looking forward to our upcoming winter, seasonal outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center don’t have a strong signal for above/near/below normal precipitation, as Utah lies between areas favored for above (northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest), and those below (desert southwest). Tables are slightly tipped for above normal temperatures however, a trend we’ve grown accustomed to of late. A “Triple-Dip La Nina” is expected to hold through much of the winter, but forecasts are trending towards neutral ENSO conditions to take form at some point late winter/early spring. October has been quite wet and cool of late, and the first two weeks of November look likely to remain that way, especially in the north. We’ll see how the rest of the winter falls out in time.

WATER AND THE LAW

(Smith Hartvigsen, pllc)
Water Facility Liability Amendments
By: Peter Gessel, Attorney at Smith Hartvigsen PLLC

Rep. Albrecht is sponsoring proposed legislation in response to concerns from his constituents who utilize irrigation water from canals that divert Sevier River water across the Sevier Valley. The irrigation companies that operate the canals have had problems in the past with thunderstorms flowing down the nearby canyons and flooding the canals, which exceeds the canals’ capacity and floods out neighboring properties, particularly when the floodwater fills the canals with debris. Some canals are not insured for flooding, leaving them fully exposed to liability for such events, while others that are insured often lose their insurance when such claims are paid out. In addition, it is fairly common for these canals to be used by municipalities and others to convey stormwater, sometimes without permission, further exposing the canal owners to liability.

The bill proposes amending Utah Code section 73-1-8, which addresses the duties of canal owners or operators and their liability. The bill would expand the section’s applicability by changing the existing “ditch, canal, flume or other watercourse” language to “water facility,” which includes any facility “used for the diversion, transportation, distribution, measurement, collection, containment, or storage of water.” Identical language has already been inserted into two other sections of Title 73, Chapter 1 which apply to the operation of canals to reflect the changing uses of canals and the need to extend protections to other types of water facilities as well. Among other things, the bill shields the owners or operators of water facilities from liability for damage or injury caused by “the diversion or discharge of water or another substance into the water facility by a third party” without permission, or “an act of God, including fire, earthquake, storm, flashfloods, or similar natural occurrences.” In addition, the bill clarifies that water facility owners or operators have a duty of “ordinary care” to maintain the water facilities to prevent the waste of water or property damage, rather than a higher degree of liability which courts have threatened to impose on canals in particular in recent years.

The Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Interim Committee unanimously adopted this draft legislation as a committee bill in its August 17th meeting. In addition, the Legislative Water Development Commission endorsed the bill in its September 22nd meeting. As an interim committee-sponsored and approved bill, it should move directly to the House floor without an additional committee hearing when the 2023 General Session of the Utah Legislature gets underway in January.

The text of the bill can be found here: https://le.utah.gov/interim/2022/pdf/00003544.pdf

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTORS CORNER

By Carly Burton

Utah Water Summit

We had a great Summit Conference again this year. For the first time in several years the conference was held at the Davis Convention Center in Layton. We had great topics, mostly on drought related issues including the Great Salt Lake, Colorado River, conservation, water supply outlook and other interesting topics. We had very positive reviews, including the facilities, food, parking and other favorable comments. We will certainly look into holding this event there next year.

Utah Water Users Workshop

The Workshop committee has been very active to put together the program for 2023. Mark your calendar for March 20-22, 2023. The event will be held again at the Dixie Convention Center in St. George. We already have 59 topics confirmed. The general session topics will be about the water outlook and an update on all the issues involving the Great Salt Lake. There will be topics about water rights and legal issues, conservation technology and engineering, water resources and supply, water quality and other water related topics. For our agricultural community members there are several topics on innovative and other water conservation topics to improve irrigation efficiency. USU Extension Services is currently doing research on numerous irrigation application improvements and methods which will be very beneficial to our ag friends.

We will post the Workshop brochure on our website sometime in November with the first brochure mailing to occur in early December. We hope to see you there.