Ogden Valley, which voted to become a city last year, is grappling with growth and the desire to remain rural.
Those tensions are at play in a new mixed-use development, Eden Crossing, located off Highway 166 and North Wolf Creek Drive. It’s designed with a hotel, retail space, offices and 185 housing units. The land was rezoned in 2023 despite some community opposition. In March, the developer ran into a roadblock when the Utah Division of Water Rights denied their water exchange application.
The state engineer cited interference with existing water rights and noted a number of protests.
“The more that people are feeling the pinch and objecting, the more the project applicant has to rebut,” said Brig Daniels, a water law professor at the University of Utah.
Utah’s water scarcity, combined with better methods for measuring water supply and the impacts of withdrawing water, lead Daniels to expect more conflicts between development and water rights. Add in Utah’s fast-growing population, and he anticipates more people will watch to make sure new users don’t infringe on their existing water rights.
“We're learning more and more and more what the hydrology of groundwater looks like,” he said. “The more we understand, the easier it's going to be to identify conflict.”
Shane Dunleavy, a partner with Eden Valley Opportunity, acknowledged his development would affect existing wells, but not enough to inhibit their full water rights, he said. This hurdle has slowed the project, but he is confident they’ll find other ways to proceed. They plan to appeal the decision in district court.
Water in Utah is in short supply. Most of the state is currently abnormally dry or worse, and the governor declared a state of emergency for 17 of the state’s 29 counties. It’s not a new situation — water has always been precious in a desert climate — but it’s now rubbing up against the political push for the state to build and expand, especially new housing.
When that drive runs into water rights, development doesn’t have to stop, Daniels noted.
Southern Utah stands as an example of how to maintain a high standard of living and beautiful landscaping without an abundance of water, according to Zach Renstrom, general manager of the Washington County Water Conservancy District.
The district offers incentives for people to tear out their lawns, replace toilets and switch to smart water controllers. St. George and Santa Clara limit grass to 8% of a residential lot. More than 2 million square feet of grass have been replaced with water-efficient landscaping.
Getting to a more water-conscious point in southwest Utah was “horrifically difficult,” Renstrom said. But he’s optimistic that other parts of the state can follow. He said northern Utah could take water-conscious steps tailored to the region, like sending water used for cooking and showering back to the Great Salt Lake.
And the good news, according to Daniels, is that Utah’s water scarcity is largely driven by human use. That means there are human solutions.
“There is a way forward that isn't conflict, and that is trying to figure out how to reallocate water in a way that is fair to existing users, but also provides us a water outlook that is reflective of what we want to do in the future, and not just who was able to get water rights in the past.”
Macy Lipkin is a Report for America corps member who reports for KUER in northern Utah.
