Gunnison City considers irrigation services, including ownership, maintenance and meters
GUNNISON—The Gunnison City Council held a work meeting on July 29 to discuss irrigation services south of the Sanpitch River.
Gunnison is working to closeout its State of Utah mandated project to meter irrigation services. Questions have been raised about the city’s responsibility to meter connections south of the Sanpitch River where the city does not fully own the water delivery system.
State officials have indicated that unless Gunnison owns the pipe, has easements for the pipe, and is delivering city water through the pipes, then state funds can’t be used to meter the connections.
The meeting began with discussion about where the water lines are located, including on farmland.
City Administrator Dennis Marker displayed a map of Gunnison City showing known water line locations. Residents in attendance were invited to identify where the map was missing information.
Changes were made as residents and farmers gave input as to where water lines run based on their knowledge of clean-out and shut-off valves. Hal Pickett volunteered to share some old blueprints with the city showing locations of original pipelines put in years ago.
Many landowners in the area have retained their shares in the local irrigation company and directly constructed or helped fund the installation of pipes providing service to their properties.
Mayor Mike Warner said he would like to know who is going to be responsible for maintenance of each section of pipe in the area and how that cost might be proportioned out if water flowing through those pipes is not metered.
If meters are to be installed, residents may have to give their water shares to the city, which would take over billing for the water, maintaining the pipelines and maintaining the meters.
People in the meeting were reminded that water lines used to follow irrigation ditches, and the Gunnison Irrigation Company owned rights of way along the ditches. It is unclear who currently owns those right-of-way rights.
As the meeting ended, there appeared to be a consensus among attendees that meters should be installed for each landowner. All said metering is the most responsible and fair way to have an accurate account of what water is being used each year.
The meeting ended with some assignments from the city to look at the cost of installing the meters. More discussion will follow after city staff look at the blueprints offered by Hal Pickett.