C150069 Benefits & Potential Roles Report

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Briefly, the City of Lamar has recently entered into an agreement with Aqua Engineering, Inc. of Fort Collins, Colorado and the Sociology Water Laboratory at Colorado State University to conduct a feasibility study for secondary water service in that community. The effort involves a cooperative agreement with one of the canal companies that skirts the City of Lamar, and in which the city owns some shares. Rather than trying to buyout the canal company, the city is taking an approach that would guarantee the identity of the canal company into the future, strengthening the canal company in its provision of agricultural water deliveries to local farms. However, in the background is the idea that such a partnership will ultimately prevent outside interests from buying out the canal company and diverting its river decree out of the Arkansas Valley. The idea of secondary water service being provided by an irrigation company affords these kinds of opportunities between municipalities and agricultural water suppliers, in both large and small communities that still have important agricultural production in their midst. Recent, the City of Hooper, Utah has taken up the same strategy with the local Hooper Irrigation 7 Company. Conclusion In conclusion we can state that although issues remain as to what kind of entity ultimately provides secondary water service to the community, the concept itself should be a central feature of the state's water policy. As discussed in the next chapter, it is apparent that secondary water supply issues have some bearing on the future of irrigated agriculture in the state. For the most part, it has been observed that canal companies and irrigation districts are providing secondary water supply in other states ofthe Rocky Mountain region. The use of homeowners' associations, private water companies and specially formed water districts has been less evident. However, many municipalities are now entering into secondary water service, a trend that appears very viable for the future. Nevertheless, it is believed that agricultural water suppliers are an excellent player in secondary water supply development, if certain conditions and objectives are realized. These are addressed in the next chapter. I Layton City, Utah and the City of Highland, Utah have well-developed secondary systems, in both instances operated and maintained by a separate water utility. The research team visited these systems and found them to be successful and popular. 2 Unfortunately, due to a Davis and Weber Counties Canal Company canal breach that flooded a subdivision in Riverdale, Utah in 1999, the company was sued for $8 million. With only $3 million in insurance at the time, the canal company is considering selling its assets to a local conservancy district. This affects the example only materially; the concept of providing secondary water to local subdivisions having measurably proved itself over the past ten years. Canal companies and irrigation districts in the Rocky Mountain region are in harms way with urban growth. Clearly, the provision of pressurized secondary water provides these entities with a means ofleveling the playing field, through new sources of revenue to upgrade their canal facilities, and thus avoid what happened to Davis and Weber. The canal company was in the process of upgrading its canal system at the time of the breach, and in doing so, exhibiting good faith in maintaining its irrigation system. This diligence did not satisfy the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, the case being settled out of court rather than facing a trial jury over a $15 million lawsuit. 3 It is estimated by the management ofGVIC that approximately 40% of the stock in the company is represented by urban water users. This includes some speculative stock acquisitions, as well as a few large institutional water users. 4 This workshop was held on October, 22, 1996 at the Fort Collins Holiday Inn. 5 The best example of this in northern Colorado may be the Water Valley project in the City of Windsor, which was developed by Martin Lind. Lind's development company continues to be a notable regional player in secondary water supply concept development and provision. 6 The metering of secondary water supply has been only rarely observed in the Rocky Mountain region. Most secondary supply providers interviewed as part of the study have stated that variable rates for lot size, or more frequently, water tap size, is far superior and of much less cost to the water user than metered systems. 7 Personal communication with the board of directors of the Hooper Irrigation Company, Hooper, Utah. The pressurized secondary system for the Hooper Irrigation Company is being built by J-U-B Engineers of Kaysville, Utah, an innovator in working with small communities and irrigation companies in developing secondary systems. 22