I appreciate the informative articles regarding water issues in Sanpete County: “Wales imposes moratorium on water connections,” “Incorporation, conservation easements may be solutions to development pressures,” (The Sanpete Mes- senger, June 15, 2022.) “Spring City looks at water connection issues, police will enforce nuisances,” (The Sanpete Messenger, April 13, 2022.) and “BYU tapped as major lead in $360M national water resources effort,” (The Pyramid Shopper June 22, 2022.)
An article in The Sanpete Messenger’s July 13, 2022, “USDA Rural Development loans $3.3M to recreational development near Spring City” caught my attention as it states “the loan is unusual because Rural Development grant and loans usually go to local governments.”
This system will serve “250 residential lots containing 129 permanent structures,” Not only are taxpayer funds being used to finance a private development, but this development must, in my opinion, impact not only those water shares/users downhill from this project but also the National Forest.
Wouldn’t public hearings be called for in this circumstance? By whose authority were these funds awarded, if, indeed, they are “unusual?”
During Earth Week in April, PBS broadcast a program entitled, “H2O: The Molecule That Made Us.” One of the more startling facts presented involved the depletion of aquifers which took over 60,000 years to develop and only a few decades to deplete. To put this in perspective, the last time a molecule of water was on the surface of the earth and now contained in an aquifer, Woolly Mammoths roamed the earth. Even more startling was the fact that thousands of acres of land in Arizona are leased to Saudi Arabian conglomerates, who are watering this acreage by tapping into an aquifer.
Why are we bartering for the Saudi Arabian oil resources when they are tapping into our water resource for free? How are well rights regulated?
We must judiciously look at the facts and inform ourselves as to how to manage this limited resource especially as we face current global dynamics.
Sue Jensen Weeks
Spring City
