| OCR Text |
Show The legal aspects of water management should also he subject to review and change where necessary. There is a question whether present laws and procedures permit taking measures to get greater efficiency in water use and management. In many cases senior water rights without limitations are cause for water waste. Where more than adequate water is available, it is diverted for fear it will be lost if the rights are not exercised. Some restrictions to the transfer, lease, and sale of water rights should be reviewed. Many streams are over- appropriated, making it difficult to plan for equitable distribution of the water. A new beneficial- use concept could be instituted where not only the water- use purpose is in the public interest, but also efficient use within the user's needs would be necessary. Consideration could be given to laws where appropriate agencies could condemn or purchase water rights where efficient and responsible use of the water was not being made. The list of available management concepts and methods that can be employed for more efficient water uses is long and varied. Again, they are not alternatives to water resource development, but part of it. Sources of Water Within the Bonneville Basin ( l) Importation from Weber River The Weber Basin Project, constructed during the period from 1956 to 1967, has an estimated total annual yield of 212,800 acre- feet of water. Of this amount, 50,000 acre- feet was designated as municipal and high quality industrial water, and the remaining 162,800' acre- feet of water was designated for irrigation. When the Bonneville Unit was being planned the water from the Weber Basin Project was mainly assigned to uses in Weber and Davis Counties, with lesser amounts in Morgan, Summit, and southern Box Elder Counties. Therefore, water from this project was not considered as an alternative to importation of Uinta Basin water to meet Bonneville Unit demands. The 50,000 acre- feet of Weber Basin municipal and industrial water is being sold on a schedule that will commit the entire amount under contract by January 1990. By January 1, 1973, over 33,000 acre- feet of this municipal and industrial water was sold and in use. Apparently this high quality water will continue to be needed in the Weber Basin area and will not become available to Salt Lake County for municipal and industrial uses. 534 |
