OCR Text |
Show 90 Publicity and Industrial Development Board were increased, rather than being put on the back burner as the first view might have suggested. Perhaps as a response to the slowdown in the number of projects, or possibly to the perceived decrease in status or accessibility to policy makers, traditional Utah water users did not work well with the Publicity and Industrial Development Board. To better represent their unique interests, the Utah Water Users Association was formed in 1944.16 One of this association's chief goals was to return the process of water planning and development to an agency that was solely concerned with water development. In response to lobbying by this group and others, the legislature created the Utah Water and Power Board in 1947.17 This board functioned in much the same role the earlier Utah Water Storage Commission had filled. Changing Organizational Institutions After 1930 the state's lawmakers worked to provide effective organizational institutions to allow local water users, cities, and counties to work together on water projects. In 1935 the legislature passed the Metropolitan Water District Act. which provided a mechanism for cities ( or groups of cities) to fund the work of building water collection and delivery systems to serve the needs of their citizens. 18 The act conveyed bonding and taxing power which allowed the cities to raise funds. It also allowed the districts to enter into contracts, which helped some cities fund their water works through federal and state government sources. In 1937 the legislature provided for conservation districts to be established throughout the state. 19 The Utah State Soil Conservation Committee acted as the governing board of the state's conservation districts and directed their efforts. By dividing the state into soil conservation districts, the work of flood control and land preservation could be more easily accomplished. 20 To help water users finance complex water development projects, and to obtain payment from ( or shift the cost to) indirect or non beneficiaries, the Utah legislature in 1941 passed the Water Conservancy Act. 21 The Water Conservancy District Act was patterned after the federal model of the repayment organizations utilized on Bureau of Reclamation projects and the National Conservancy Act of 1940. This act was designed to meet the organizational requirements of the Bureau of Reclamation, and it provided a mechanism for funding the larger projects under consideration by state water management officials and the Bureau of Reclamation. This act allowed water users to not only group together, but conferred the power to tax all land included within district boundaries. These boundaries were determined by election. This provision differed from earlier district laws in that property of indirect beneficiaries was explicitly included in the districts. This For a recounting of the steps leading up to the formation of the Utah Water Users Association and the establishment of die Utah Water and Power Board see Clarence Barker, The Utah Water and Power Board, Twenty Years of Achievement, 1947 to 1967. ( Salt Lake City, Utah: Department of Natural Resources, 1968). Pages unnumbered in document " State of Utah, Laws of the State of Utah ( 1947), Chapter 141, Sections 1- 15, pp 444- 449. 18State of Utah, Laws of the State of Utah ( 1935), Chapter 110, pp 204- 219. 19State of Utah, Laws of the State of Utah ( 1937), Chapter 116, pp 213- 214. 20Ibid., p 214. The act specifies that the state committee cooperate with local districts in solving problems and seeking funding. 21State of Utah, Laws of the State of Utah ( 1941), Chapter 99, Sections 1- 41, pp 206- 221. |