MINUTES

ENOCHCITY WATER BOARD

April 10, 2014 at 4:30pm

City Council Chambers

City Offices, 900 E. Midvalley Road

MEMBERS PRESENT: Larry Gardner, Dilworth Armstrong, Krea Mecham, Doug Grimshaw, Spencer Jones, Council Member Steve Johnson and Advisor Norman Grimshaw.

STAFF PRESENT: Julie Watson andEarl Gibson

PUBLIC PRESENT: Taiga Rohrer

1.CALL TO ORDER OF REGULAR MEETING-By Chairman Gardner at 4:30PM. He welcomed all to the meeting.

a.Pledge of Allegiance–Led by Dilworth Armstrong

  1. Invocation –Audience invited to participate. Given by Spencer Jones

c.Approval of agenda for April 10, 2014 –Motion by Dilworth. Motionseconded by Krea and all voted in favor.

d.Approval of minutes for March 13, 2014-Motion by Doug. Motionseconded by Spencer and all voted in favor.

e. Conflict of Interest Declaration-Spencer said he is on Conservancy District Board and will present the information on item #4. No others stated.

2.ELECT NEW CHAIRMAN

Chairman Gardner said he has been glad to serve but it is time for someone else to be the chairman and he asked for nominations. Spencer said if he would continue as chairman for another year that would be great.SpencernominatedChairman Gardner to serve for another year.Motion was secondedby Dilworth and all voted in favor. Chairman Gardnerwill continue to serve for another year and everyone thanked him for doing a wonderful job.

3.DISCUSS FUNDING OPTIONS FOR NEW WELL

Julie reported that one option is to apply for CIB (Community Impact Board) funding which requires matching funds from the City. We also have been saving for many years for this expense. Impact fees could be used because the new well is the result of growth. Earl said he is working on the Request for Proposal and it will be noticed in the newspaper soon as we can start on May 15th.

4.DISCUSS CICWCD MEETING REGARDING A WELL FIELD NORTH OF RUSH LAKE

Spencer reported the Conservancy District, Cedar City and Enoch along with attorneys and engineers held a meeting to discuss where Cedar City could drill new wells in light of the depleted aquifer and fissures forming in Enoch and Quichipa. The Rush Lake area hassignificant water volume with water being hit at about 8 feet down. There is an existing but abandoned well by the old house about 600-800 feet directly west. There was a brief discussion of the soil make-up and other issues such as the proximity to the Wastewater Treatment plant and the possibility of nitrates leeching into the water. Spencer said he is bringing this up to the Water Board as this is of concern for Enoch if another well goes in out there. Spencer suggested that perhaps we should look at continuing to talk with Cedar City and the Conservancy District about the possibility of a well field out there rather than going ahead with our east bench well plans. There was much discussion of other possible future options such as running a line from the Rush Lake well to our existing pipeline by Bulldog Road. Pumping costs to our water tanks would be more costly due to distance and the uphill grade. Earl had objections due to the fact that the water in the lower valley is not as good and may have to be treated which we do currently not have to do so there would be considerable costs associated with that.

There was more discussion and many unanswerable questions discussed.This is in the initial stages and not much information is available. Chairman Gardner asked as a Water Boardwhat options do we have and he suggested three things.

  1. We have a tie with Conservancy District now and can draft some language to participate in that well field versus doing our own well on the east bench. There could be financial savings or more costs involved with pumping and treating the water and the cost of acquiring the property.
  2. We could make an agreement for the Conservancy District to sell Enoch some of the pending west desertwater wholesale to help meet future needs.
  3. Orwe could go on with our own plans to drill our new well on the east bench.

He asked if we want to take any formal position on this. There was more discussion of the area and the old ranches that exist out there, the sources of the water, conditions before the springs dried up, draw down of the aquifer and many unknown things including what plans Cedar City actually has. Chairman Gardner asked can Enoch stop this? Probably not, although we could file a protest but that may not be effective.Spencer said if we did protest and there was interference with our water in the future, the protest would have more weight.A big concern isthis would bethe third well of Cedar City’s that crosses our side of the valley.

There was more discussion of other sources of possible future water and possible ways to access it. Going back to the Rush Lake area, Dilworth said he and Kal Kahler spent three days out there and he has dowsed most of that area. There is a lot of water coming off Minersville Hill into the Rush Lake area. It could be worth studying more as it is not being used currently. Spencer added it is his personal opinion that the Rush Lake site is a better site than what we have now and he would be glad to talk about it in more depth off the record. He would like to look at going in with Cedar City on that well so that we can have a part of that water for reserve. We have a pipeline nearby already that we could just open the valve and that would be less expense. There was more discussion of the logistics of that option. Chairman Gardner said he is not sure we want to put Enoch into a position to have to buy water from someone else although we could keep that option open and Spencer said he agrees. There would be transmission costs but it would be only a few miles to our waterlines from Rush Lake. Earl still had issues with the cost of treating that water which could be high as we don’t have the facilities to do that now. Doug added pumping costs would be up with the lower valley location and having to install the piping too. Chairman Gardnersuggested we should try to preserve our rights even if we don’t exercise them. They have not invited us yet but we did participate a meeting in Cedar City Spencer said.

Chairman Gardner said the “devil is in the details”. Dilworth thought we should look at it. Krea said he is concerned with too many wells in a cluster as he has seen past problems with that. Council Member Johnson said he is thinking that the people do care about the quality of the water. He is concerned that medicines go into the sewer treatment plant and he wonders if they are really able to eliminate all of that before it comes to the people as drinking water.Our water quality is excellent right now and we want to continue to provide that.

Chairman Gardner said do we want to express interest to this group and be included in the talks or let it go and move on with our current well plans. Spencer said he would take this back to them if we are interested although this is for discussion only today. At a future time the Water Board may be asked to make a recommendation to the City Council and they will be the ones to take action. He said he just wanted to bring it up now so we think about it. Chairman Gardner said we don’t want to cut off our options.Spencer said Cedar City is not far enough along with this but could be in 90-120 days. Chairman Gardner said we are not in a position to abandon our plans for the new well yet adding this is something to think about. There was a brief discussion about water rights, priority dates and the new requirement that water rights be recorded with the County Clerk so the rightful owner is protected. Doug said the County Recorder will index them but things are still the same for conveyance. Rights are not tied to a place and this is abetter way to get a handle on the ownership which helps the State Engineer to track rights. Spencer said water can be mortgaged too and that can cause problems so recording is a good thing.

Chairman Gardner thanked Spencer for the report. No action was taken. Council Member Johnson will report to the City Council.

5.PUBLIC COMMENTS

Taiga Rohrer said this is his first time attending a Water Board meeting. He is here today because of subsidence and is concerned about Legacy Estates Subdivision as the fissures are comingvery near to them. He has the UGS report and the fissuresare only a couple hundred yards from this subdivision and he is more than a little concerned. Property values are going down and one home sale has been canceled due to this issue. He is worried about the report adding this is a trend that has been going on for a long time it appears. Looking at historical data we are taking out more water than is recharging. He asked the Water Board what they are doing about groundwater depletion and how it affects Enoch as homes are being affected now. As long as we continue to deplete groundwater there are people who are part andparcel to the cause of this. How can we slow a moving man-made disaster? He said there is liability in the Water Boardand with everyone in the area.He knows this was not purposely caused but knowing there is a problem and failing to balance the water withdrawal budget is reckless. It tells him we, not just the Water Board butEnoch, Cedar City and the Conservancy District are not balancing the water budget and that needs to be done. Reduce the draw down where subsidence is occurring which now affects infrastructure and property values. If fissures continue to grow and they will it will affect more and more.Chairman Gardner said his comment is first,what would you like us to do, what do you expect and what can we do or should we do?We can’t control the weather and the drought is a part of this picture because in a drought and there is not normal recharge going on. The damage is done and he is not sure we can take the blame. Council Member Johnson said it is natural when something bad happens for people to look to place blame.We have talked before about Cedar interfering with our water and we may need to look at that again. People have to have water for their homes. Earl verified that we have no wells in the area of the fissures adding Clarks pump a lot of water for irrigation and cattle in that area. Spencer said he would not take the UGS report 100% to heart. Taiga said his question tothe WaterBoard is that the report was written by professional geologists and engineers who don’t have a vested interest in the water or the effects so he is more inclined to believe the professionals than just anyone on a Water Board. He has an engineering background and understands the pluses and minuses and the trend is pretty clear. He asked if there are water restrictions in place. Spencer said this discussion is ongoing and there are some ideas although it may not be cost effective right now. Chairman Gardner said this is part of the tax battle and the question comes down to is this the best place to spend your money. We may not be able to do that. The money might be better spent by buying everyone low flow shower heads. The fissures are there and we need to move on to try to mitigate the reasons for them but we don’t know if the City itself can change anything.

6.COUNCIL/STAFF REPORTS

Council Member Johnson said he has heard other concerns expressed. Subsidence could crack sewer lines and if cattle runoff goes into the fissures it could affect water quality. He added someone said Coal Creek used to drain out here and recharge the aquifer and Cedar City changed that with their drainage project.

Earl Gibsonsaid he would not be surprised if the sewer line is not broken already. He has “camera’ed” three or four years ago and there was quite a deflection but it is not a live line and is abandoned for now.

NormanGrimshawsaid keep Cedar from pumping water out from under Enoch

Krea Mecham said sue Cedar City.

Spencer Jones said Parowan is facing some of the same issues and are looking at over pumping and withdrawal in specific wells with no recharge. He added in fact, many “old timers” know the underground mining of water started in the early 30’s when the springs started to dry up. If you go back thru records you can see how few wells there were in the 1930’s. It was mostly surface irrigation being used from Coal Creek.People are living here today that say this fissure has always been here. He remembers these big cracks getting filled up so well lines could operate. Now that more people live here it is noticeable.

Chairman Gardner said we are here now and can’t go back. We have to work with what we have and there is no easy answer adding he does not necessarily agree the conclusions are correct.

7.ADJOURN-Motion to adjourn by Krea. Motion seconded by Doug. The meeting ended at 5:50pm.

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Julie Watson, Recorder Date

Enoch City Water Board Meeting

April 10, 20141