OCR Text |
Show SECTION 1 1 STATE WATER PLAN - JORDAN RIVER BASIN DRINKING WATER Throughout the Jordan River Basin, culinary water is used for all types of residential uses as well as for other municipal and industrial uses. 11.1 Introduction This section describes the present drinking water systems in the Jordan River Basin, discusses present and future problems and presents estimated future requirements. For clarification purposes, this section, although titled " Drinking Water," addresses public water supplies distributed for public uses. Typical uses include indoor home use, lawn and garden watering, car washing, swimming pools, public parks and streets, fire protection, commercial enterprises, and schools. Many industries also receive water from municipal water systems. Industrial water use is discussed in Section 18. 11.2 Setting At the present time, existing drinking water supplies are adequate and come from a rather complex mix of surface water and groundwater ( including wells, springs and tunnels). Almost 99 percent of the public drinking water supplies come from 32 approved community drinking water systems ( See Table 11- 1 for listing). Approval of drinking water systems implies compliance with state regulations and water quality standards. In addition to the 32 primary community drinking water systems, there are an additional 46 small drinking water systems. These small systems, some approved and some unapproved, provide drinking water to a very limited clientele or service area such as a campground, a restaurant or a small subdivision. The major water purveyors in the county are Salt Lake City, the Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake City and the Salt Lake County Water Conservancy District. Most of the other approved water systems, despite having independent water sources, are dependent to some extent upon the purchase of water from one or more of these wholesalers. The population served, total connections and monthly demand figures given in Table 11- 1 show the relative size of the various drinking water systems. But the numbers are not additive. For instance, the Salt Lake County Water Conservancy District ( SLCWCD) is shown as serving a population of 400,000. The SLCWCD, however, is primarily a wholesaler. The 400,000 figure incudes the populations served by their wholesale clients ( e. g. Kearns Improvement District - 32,000, West Jordan City water system - 45,000, Granger Hunter Improvement District - 85,000 and others). In addition to domestic water users, the population served also includes estimates for commercial uses. Consequently, many individual users are counted two or more times in the table. For these reasons, any attempt to quantify domestic water usage by adding the population served, number of connections, or total monthly demands would be inappropriate. A summary of current uses and projected demands is shown in Table 9- 4. 11.2.1 Background The development of an urban water supply began with the arrival of the pioneers in 1847. City Creek, Red Butte Creek and Emigration Creek were put to immediate use for culinary and agricultural purposes. By 1860, nearly all of the nearby mountain streams were appropriated for agricultural uses with small communities established along their banks. Extensive use was also made of well water for household use. Early water rights were controlled through the hierarchy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints ( Mormons). As secular governmental structures emerged, control of water rights was shifted to city and territorial governments. Disputes concerning water rights were resolved by county water commissioners, and after statehood in 1896, through the Office of the State Engineer. 11- 1 |