Even with a major snowstorm on Monday, available irrigation water this year could be scarce.
Water from Grantsville Reservoir overflowed last spring and the Grantsville Irrigation Company did not read meters until three months into the season.
That will not be the case this year.
On Wednesday at its board meeting, the company set the limit this year at 150,000 gallons per shareholder, compared to 250,000 gallons last year.
“Last year, we didn’t end up reading meters until July 1, so anything up to that point didn’t count towards the 250,000 gallons,” said Elise Mondragon, office manager for Grantsville Irrigation Company.
“This year, we’ll anticipate reading the meters as soon as we turn on, which means the 150,000 gallons is stretched from April through October,” Mondragon said.
She said the board made the decision based on snowpack being at 44 percent of normal.
“The water level is discussed at every meeting. The board feels it is better to underestimate than overestimate the amount of water available,” Mondragon said.
With warmer temperatures than last year, current water storage at Grantsville and Settlement Canyon reservoirs is higher than at this time last year.
A Feb. 1 reading from the Natural Resources Conservation Service showed reservoir storage for Tooele Valley at 70 percent of capacity, compared to 21 percent last year.
Settlement Canyon Reservoir was at 78 percent full and Grantsville Reservoir was at 67 percent full. Grantsville Reservoir holds 2,222 acre-feet of water while Settlement holds 789 acre-feet. And acre-foot of water is an acre of water that is one-foot deep.
Settlement Canyon Irrigation Company board member Ned Bevan said there are many factors regarding any restrictions this year.
He said it would depend on the weather pattern over the next four months, stream flow and reservoir storage.
“The board will look at those things when the time comes,” Bevan said. “I’m trying to be optimistic. It is still too early.”
Grantsville Irrigation Company reported that there are 10,197.5 shares and that number will not increase or decrease.
Mondragon said currently there are no shares for lease this year by shareholders, but that could change.
SNOTEL site data in Tooele County on Tuesday showed Rocky Basin in Settlement Canyon at 47 percent of normal for this time of the year. Mining Fork in the Stansbury Mountains was at 48 percent of normal and Vernon Creek was at 54 percent of normal.
Water users hope the recent storm on Monday is an indication of things to come.
Bevan, Tooele weather observer for the National Weather Service, reported that the recent storm pounded Tooele with .86 inches of precipitation and 13 inches of snow. The high temperature reached 34 degrees with a low of 20 in a 24-hour period from 5 p.m. Sunday to 5 p.m. Monday.
Normal precipitation for the entire month of February in Tooele is 1.33 inches and normal snowfall for the month is 14.1 inches.
In 2017, precipitation for Tooele hit a high of 166 percent of normal followed by 111 percent of normal in March and 116 percent of normal in April.