Utah Valleys Square Off in an Old-Fashioned Water War

The Central Iron County Water Conservancy District wants new sources of water so communities in the Cedar Valley in Utah can continue to grow. It's a story as old as the American West.

2 minute read

April 5, 2022, 12:00 PM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


View of Cedar City, Utah

Cedar City, Utah | Abdulelah Fakhrani / Cedar City, Utah

Gabrielle Canon reports for the Guardian on a controversial effort by cities located in Cedar Valley, Utah to secure more water for continued growth.

The ground in Cedar Valley is sinking and splintering. Fissures that snake through the region are a visible sign of Utah’s water woes, and the result of years spent overdrawing from an underground aquifer that supplies the area. [....] And yet Cedar City, at the heart of the valley, continues to grow. Visitors flock to nearby national parks such as Zion and Bryce Canyon, adding to the flow of new residents expected to move here in the coming years. Cedar City is already the most populous in Utah’s Iron county, and finding more water has become an existential quest.

To find more water to continue growing, Cedar Valley has identified nearby Beaver County as a potential source for new water import projects. The proposal has provoked opposition from environmentalists, ranchers, tribes, and officials from other counties, according to the article. The Central Iron County Water Conservancy District (CICWCD) has been seeking water from the Beaver Valley since 2006, according to the article, and has already cleared several legal hurdles, including a 2019 settlement that "cleared the way for the agency to seek federal approval to begin pumping," according to Canon. Still, any project to draw water from Beaver Valley will require approval from the Bureau of Land Management.

The controversy is familiar: "The battle is just the latest frontline in the water wars of the American west that have defined Utah’s history," writes Canon. Planetizen has been tracking water controversies in Utah over the years, including a recent decision by the town of Oakley to halt all development due to water supply uncertainties.

Sunday, April 3, 2022 in The Guardian

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