Issues Paper, Central Utah Project

Page 175

/U Board of County Commissioners of Salt Lake County April 3, 1978 Page fifteen polished secondary, a quality suitable for most industrial needs. The volumes of water involved include nearly 50% of all water currently consumed by the municipal sector. As new resources are developed for municipal and residential use, these will add a proportionate amount to this potential supply. Thus, this source of water could add as much as 100,000 acre feet of water by the year 2000, constituting 50%, of all municipal water added to muni­cipal supplies after that. Beyond that, the possibility exists that some of this reclaimed water could be used a second, third, or even a fourth time before being discharged into the Great Salt Lake. In summary, there are several short and long range solutions to fulfill Salt Lake County's ever increasing needs for water. These solutions range from purely management solutions to small scale water projects to large scale projects such as completion of a state managed Jordanelle system or the massive Bonneville Unit. With the full development and careful management of the water resources currently available to Salt Lake County, the water needs of the County can be met without depletion of the resources or interference with the valid needs of other areas in the State. C. The third element of sound water resource management is the selection of the least cost alternative or combination of alternatives discussed in Section B above. While a thorough exam­ination of the costs of development and distribution of all of the water resources outlined in the preceding discussion is beyond the scope of this study, I can offer some general conclusions as to which strategies are the least cost approaches to fulfilling the County's needs. Municipal and residential water supplies to households in Salt Lake County cost the consumer about $0.30-$0.35/1,000 gallons or about $100-$115/acre foot. Since the average household in Salt Lake County uses about 1 acre foot per year, the average household cost of water is about $110 per year. The majority of this cost is attributed to water treatment and distribution charges since the water itself is virtually free. Therefore, the additional resources discussed below indicate costs above these treatment and distribution charges. Obviously, the lowest cost approach to fulfilling part or all of our future needs is through conservation or waste reduction. Water needs satisfied through conservation and waste reduction are satisfied almost for free.