CEDAR CITY – From grates and broken piping to water rights and the West Valley Water Project, water was the topic of discussion at Wednesday evening’s Cedar City Council meeting.

Request to relinquish option on 10 acre-feet of water

The first item on the public agenda was a request to City Council to release the water rights to 10 acre-feet of water from a right of first refusal contract with the Leonard Bulloch Family Trust to allow for a land sale.

When the city annexed the land in question, just south of Equestrian Pointe, there was an ordinance in place requiring the deed to the water rights be signed over to the city. The contract also stated that if the property owner had rights to water in excess of the deed and they chose to sell it in the future, the city would have the first option to purchase them.

There are currently 428 acre-feet of water that are owned by the family trust that are beyond the annexed property’s deed. The city is being asked to relinquish the future right to purchase 10 acre-feet of those water rights so that the Leonard Bulloch Family Trust can complete a land sale, because the purchaser will not move forward on the deal without the water rights included.

The decision was moved to Wednesday’s agenda as part of the action meeting.

Cedar Valley Water Project

Central Iron County Water Conservancy District, General Manager Paul Monroe presented an update to the council on the Cedar Valley Water Project. There are plans underway to begin pipelining the approved waters that are not currently in litigation.

There are a total of 15,000 acre-feet of water from Pine Valley and 6,525 acre-feet of water in the Wa Wa Valley that the conservancy district is prepared to move.

The district is still waiting for permission to access an additional 10,000 acre-feet of water from Hamblin Valley that is currently being contested by both Beaver County and the federal government.

The plan is an attempt to facilitate both the current water needs of Iron County communities, as well as population growth anticipated over the next few decades.

Waterline replacement

The waterline replacement project at the west end of 400 North under Interstate 15 was up for bid consideration Wednesday evening. Though Cedar City Senior Engineer Jonathan Stathis offered several solutions, he said there really is no easy way to fix this leak.

The waterline that supplies drinking water to the west side of town was put in nearly 50 years ago, Stathis said, long before I-15 was even a factor. Now that the Interstate has been built over the top of the waterline there are several difficulties involved in trying to fix the cracking pipes.

One option is to slide a liner through the pipe and connect it on either side in a way that would bypass the leak. The other option is to bore a new waterline through the area and completely replace the pipe. Both options present possible issues and solutions.

The council expressed concerns over the longevity of each option and how warranties would operate if there was an issue with the chosen solution. Stathis was asked to check references and bring photos that would illustrate the concepts he was presenting for follow-up at a future City Council meeting.

Drainage at Cedar Ridge Golf Course

During staff comments at the start of Wednesday’s meeting, the council was reminded of a current issue with drainage water flow at the Cedar Ridge Golf Course. One of the solutions presented involves placing a new grate into the system to help hold back garbage during a storm to keep it from clogging up the system. Council offered a few alternate suggestions to research and agreed to follow up on the discussion later when there is more information available.

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