Local planners and water managers are seeking input from the public and from local stakeholders on the drafting of a Water Utility Resource Management Plan (with the charming acronym “WURMP”), intended to guide water management strategies in the Moab Valley for the next century.
“As the council liaison for the WURMP, I am keenly aware of the complexities and the importance of not over-promising and overspending our water resources,” said Moab City Council member Luke Wojciechowski in a May 16 press release from the city. “This plan is more than just a document; it’s a promise to our citizens and future generations that we are committed to ensuring sustainable and resilient water resources.”
Water in the West has been making national headlines over the past couple of years, mostly in the context of the over-allocation of the Colorado River. Sustainable management of the Colorado is critical to the whole region, and Moab, being located alongside it, has a strong connection to the river. But Moab doesn’t get its drinking water from the Colorado; Moab Valley users draw their water from a local aquifer, and most irrigation in the valley is provided by surface water from the La Sal Mountains.
Local planners and managers have been trying to better understand those complex natural watershed and aquifer systems. Aquifer studies in recent years have raised as many questions as answers regarding the capacity, structure and flow of Moab’s water sources; meanwhile, water demand is projected to continue growing in the valley.
A coalition of water providers has been meeting for over a year to exchange information and discuss goals and strategies; last spring it contracted with Hansen, Allen and Luce Engineers to gather and analyze data. On Dec. 14, 2022, the group held an online focus group meeting—open to the public—to discuss its activities and findings; that meeting is available to watch on YouTube, or through a link on the city’s Water Utility Resource Management Plan webpage (https://moabcity.org/612/Water-Utility-Resource-Management-Plan). Another online focus group meeting was held on May 22, followed by an in-person open house at the Grand Center on May 24; video of the focus group is available on YouTube and materials from the open house can be viewed through a link on the city’s webpage at https://plan.konveio.com/moab-spanish-valley-water-utility-resource-management-plan#page=1. There will be another public engagement session later this summer presenting water demand projections and possible “source solutions” for meeting that demand in the coming decades.
“Until we have a plan, we can’t just stop growth,” said Moab Mayor Joette Langianese in the press release. “The plan is key in making future policy decisions. We encourage public participation in the process so we hear all sides of the issue and collect all of the relative data in order to establish effective policy to guide future management of our water resources.”
Phases of the project
The three major water providers in the valley form the coalition: the City of Moab, the Grand Water & Sewer Service Agency, and the San Juan Spanish Valley Special Service District. The engineering consultants are also looking at data from the Moab Irrigation Company, which serves a small percentage of Moab water users. Public involvement consulting company Logan Simpson is directing public engagement efforts, and water rights attorneys from the firm Smith Hartvigsen are providing legal expertise. Representatives from Moab City and Grand County are also involved in discussions. The group’s goals are to establish coordination and cooperation among the agencies, and take advantage of any potential resource-sharing opportunities; develop consistent water policies; and plan for future water management and infrastructure.
In the first phase of the project, the coalition gathered technical data on how much water is currently being used and what sources are providing that water, including wells, springs and surface sources.
Population growth was projected through the next century, using estimates from master plans from various agencies. According to information presented at the May 24 open house, the three coalition water providers currently serve about 11,000 users; in 2050, that total is estimated to be 21,000; and in 2120, 49,000 users are expected to be using water in the service area covered by the three providers.
Data collected suggests that current water sources are adequate to meet demand right now; at some point in the future, new sources will be needed to meet demand.
“If the communities decide to grow, eventually they’re going to need more water,” said Project Manager Ben Miner of Hansen, Allen and Luce at the May 22 focus group meeting.
For the next phase of the project, planners have begun to look at the pros and cons of all possible future sources of water.
“We went through and tried to think of every possible solution for water, every possible source of water, that we could, to see, ‘is that a feasible source?’” Miner said.
Options include developing sources on the Colorado River; further tapping Mill Creek; drilling new wells; using agricultural conservation strategies; further developing Behind the Rocks well; reusing graywater; reusing water from the water treatment plant; encouraging voluntary conservation measures; and implementing mandatory outdoor water restrictions.
Each option has advantages and drawbacks. Some are likely to be more expensive; others come with water rights complications; some will provide only limited expansion of water resources.
At the open house, attendees were invited to place stickers on a chart to indicate which options they supported or did not support. About 20 people attended the open house, and most expressed support for graywater reuse, outdoor watering restrictions, and agricultural water conservation; most indicated they did not support developing sources on Mill Creek or the Colorado River, or drilling new wells.
Members of the public can still peruse the open house presentation online at https://plan.konveio.com/moab-spanish-valley-water-utility-resource-management-plan#page=1. To navigate to the page, go to the city’s website, moabcity.org, and click on the Water Utility Resource Management Plan link. From there click on the “View the Open House materials” link.
Cost estimates for each of the options are not yet available. In the next phase, project leaders will brainstorm specific projects that would enable future source solutions, such as pump stations or treatment plants, and estimate costs for those projects.
“These projects will all cost a lot of money,” Miner acknowledged at the focus group meeting. “I want to be frank about that, they’re going to be very expensive.” He suggested that some of the costs could be carried by new developers.
The group will consider public input as they continue to evaluate data and work on a draft management plan.
Not a groundwater study
“This is not a groundwater study,” Miner noted at the focus group meeting. “There have been quite a few studies, and there’s still more work to do… we want to make sure that whatever we offer as a solution is feasible, but we’re basing our recommendations on work done by others, in terms of the groundwater.”
According to available data, Miner said, it does not appear that Moab water users have yet reached what is known as “safe yield,” or the point at which users are withdrawing water from the aquifer faster than it is being recharged.
“There have been a lot of questions about ‘safe yield,’” Miner said. “There’s still a lot that’s not known… Essentially, we are not seeing in the valley a sustained, longterm, significant decline in the water table.” He added, however, that it’s important to continue monitoring the aquifer.
“As the community moves forward with groundwater development, it’s a good idea to continue to track these parameters closely to make sure that we don’t get to a point where too much water is being withdrawn,” Miner said. “There’s reason to be cautious, but also, the data is not yet showing a significant groundwater decline… That’s the assumption we’re moving forward with on sources—that there still could be potential development of groundwater.”
One member of the public called in to the meeting to ask when Moab is likely to hit safe yield. Moab City Manager Carly Castle, who has previously worked in water management and conservation, explained that the WURMP is meant to prevent that from happening, and used an analogy to illustrate.
“It’s like if we went to our doctor’s office and our doctor says to us, ‘Hey, the way you’re living means you’re going to have a heart attack between 50 and 60 years old,’” Castle said. “Instead of obsessing over, ‘am I going to be 54 when I have the heart attack, am I going to be 57, am I going to be 58’—the question we should be asking is, ‘how do we avoid hitting it in the first place? How do we avoid the heart attack?’”
Castle said the plan being drafted is a proactive step to avoid “barrelling towards a crisis”—to avoid hitting safe yield limits.
Community leaders hope to continue engaging the public as they plan for the future. Miner pointed out that no one knows the Moab Valley like its residents.
“Nobody has a better sense of what’s going on than you do,” he said.
