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Show Chapter 3 Watershed Jurisdiction and Ownership Salt Lake City owns all or the largest percentage of water rights in each of the Wasatch Canyons, from City Creek on the north to Little Cottonwood Canyon on the south, except Red Butte Creek. Since Salt Lake City ( and in some cases other municipalities) water rights cannot be alienated, the Utah Constitution effectively prohibits development in the Wasatch Canyons without contracting for Salt Lake City " surplus" water. A state statute recognizes this practice, authorizing cities to " sell and deliver the surplus product or service capacity of any such works, not required by the city or its inhabitants, to others beyond the limits of the city" ( Utah Code Ann., 10- 18- 14,1). In this manner Salt Lake City has been able to respond to the intense demand for use of its water in the canyons. In 1981, Salt Lake City placed a moratorium on further water contracts in the canyons in order to protect the city's water supply and watersheds. Existing city water contracts and cornrnitments that have not been fully utilized have been honored and permitted for the expansion of water use within the terms of the contract. In 1991, Salt Lake City removed its moratorium and instituted a new surplus water sales policy. 2. State Legislation The Utah State Legislature has implemented the classification authority granted by the Utah Constitution by dividing municipal corporations into three classes. First Class Cities are municipalities with more than 100,000 people ( Utah Code Annotated, 10- 1- 1). These classifications have been upheld by the Utah Supreme Court ( Salt Lake City V. Salt Lake County, 1922. 60 U. 423, 209 P. 207). Cities are granted extraterritorial jurisdiction for the construction, operation, and maintenance of waterworks, and to protect the water from pollution that is " used in and necessary for" city waterworks. Protection of water from pollution for all classifications of cities is explicitly recognized " for 15 miles above the point from which it is taken, and for a distance of 300 feet on each side of such streams" ( Utah Code Annotated, 10- 8- 15). Additional watershed protection jurisdictions for First Class Cities, like Salt Lake City, extend further than other classifications of cities to include protection of the " entire watershed" ( Utah Code Annotated, 10- 8- 15). Therefore, Salt Lake City is granted management responsibility, anywhere in the canyon watersheds where Salt Lake City owns water rights, to protect canyon waters from activities that are detrimental to water Page 30 |
