Editor’s note: The following story developed at deadline today. A more detailed story will be published in next Tuesday’s edition.
The state engineer will reconsider the water right applications for 6,000 acre feet of water in Rush Valley from the state School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration after its initial request was amended on Aug. 29.
SITLA submitted four water right applications in August 2015 totaling 6,000 acre-feet of water per year at 26 well sites throughout northern Rush Valley. SITLA is a major landowner in the area, with more than 19,000 acres of undeveloped land.
State Engineer Kent Jones approved SITLA’s applications under conditions that included limiting the annual diversion to 4.73 acre-feet per application, instead of the requested 1,500 acre feet. Jones also required the amount of water be metered and reported annually, and the water is fully developed and placed to beneficial, municipal use within five years of the application’s approval.
In his decision, Jones supported the limited development of water resources in Rush Valley, stating he had “reason to believe 4.73 acre-feet is the quantity of water that is available to be appropriated under this application.” The 4.73 acre-feet standard was established by the state engineer in 2008 with the amount defined as one house, one acre of land and water for 10 animals.
An acre-foot of water is equivalent to 325,851 gallons, with SITLA’s total request equivalent to more than 1.9 billion gallons per year.
Dozens of Rush Valley residents protested SITLA’s application during a public hearing in May 2016 and more than 60 private citizens, businesses and local government entities submitted written protests before an October 2015 deadline.