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Show water per year. The project will treat spring runoff water from the canyons in the southeast portion of Salt Lake County and inject the treated water into the aquifer. The water will be pumped from wells later in the year as needed to meet demand. 9.5.5 Bear River Development The Bear River has long been viewed as an available water resource. An average annual flow of over a million acre- feet flows from the river to the Great Salt Lake. However, based on the river's flow pattern ( water is available only during the winter and spring months) and poor water quality, it has remained an untapped resource. The Salt Lake County Water Conservancy District submitted an application in 1986 to the Board of Water Resources for assistance in developing 50,000 acre- feet of water from the Bear River. During the flooding of the early 1980s, the Division of Water Resources was directed by the legislature to investigate Bear River water storage options that would help control the level of the Great Salt Lake. A joint legislative/ gubernatorial Bear River task force was created in 1990 to look at water development options on the Bear River. This Bear River Task Force apportioned the state's Bear River water rights to Cache and Box Elder counties, Weber Basin Water Conservancy District and Salt Lake County Water Conservancy District. The task force provided that each county would get 60,000 acre- feet of water and each district would get 50,000 acre- feet of water. The division was directed by the task force to prepare a plan for delivering the apportioned water rights. The Bear River Pre- Design Report was published in 1991. It identified a plan for development that had four major parts: First, development of a water storage reservoir in the upper basin to provide replacement for groundwater withdrawals; second, a diversion from the Bear River to move water via canal or pipeline to Willard Bay Reservoir; third, the construction of transmission facilities to move project water from Willard Bay south to Davis, Weber, and Salt Lake counties; and fourth, the construction of a reservoir on the lower Bear River. The current plan has been modified to constructing a pipeline or canal from the Bear River to Willard Bay Reservoir, a water treatment facility in Weber County, and the necessary conveyance facilities to get treated water to its point of use. The projected cost of that project is approximately $ 300 million. The Bear River Task Force introduced legislation that further defines the state's role in the development of the river. The 1991 Bear River Development Act states the Division of Water Resources shall construct a state project that may include the construction of reservoirs on the Bear River and a pipeline or canal to Willard Bay Reservoir. All facilities constructed to deliver water to potential users from those facilities will be the responsibility of the water purchaser. The Salt Lake County Water Conservancy District ( SLCWCD), in cooperation with the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District ( WBWCD), is proposing the construction of a water treatment plant in central Weber County. The SLCWCD is currently purchasing land for the plant. Also, in cooperation with the WBWCD, the SLCWCD is investigating pipeline alignment alternatives to convey Bear River water from the proposed plant south to Salt Lake County and the east shore area of Davis and Weber counties This pipeline will deliver needed water to SLCWCD as well as alleviate an infrastructure problem for WBWCD in the east shore area of Davis and Weber counties. These proposed facilities would provide the infrastructure to move water south from the Bear River to Salt Lake County and also the opportunity for various Weber Basin water suppliers to lease water to the SLCWCD. 9.5.6 Conservation Stretching existing water supplies through a number of conservation practices has potential. Water users may be able to better manage their supplies thereby increasing efficiencies which in turn can reduce costs. This applies to all water uses including residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural. Water reuse is also a potential water conservation practice that might be employed in the near future. One approach to water reuse currently being investigated is the delivery of wastewater effluent from the Central Valley Wastewater Treatment Plant to irrigation canals where it would be co- mingled with irrigation water before being applied to irrigated fields. This approach to water reuse and other conservation efforts are discussed in more detail in Section 17, Water Conservation/ Education. Water conservation will undoubtedly play an important role in addressing future water needs. It is not likely, 9- 9 |