Marc Stilson, Southeastern Regional Water Rights Engineer, spoke during the Emery County Public Lands meeting on Tuesday on all things water.
He remarked that the water content in this past storm had doubled the snow water content in the watershed. On Dec. 27, the volume of water held in the snowpack stood around six inches. By Jan. 2, the water volume had increased to around 12 inches.
This is three inches short of the 15 inches of water the snowpack produces in a normal year. This one storm essentially provided over 1/3 of the water typically seen during the winter season. Currently, the snowpack sits at 190% of normal for this time of year.
Stilson also reported that a change application was approved for Carbon Canal in order for the irrigation company to be able to operate a contract water bank. The stated purpose of this water bank is to help promote environmental flows in the lower Price River, which runs dry during a typical year.
Stilson then began to explain happenings in the Colorado River Basin. He stated that the Upper Basin States of Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico have put forth a five-point plan to help improve conditions within the Colorado River system. One point on this plan would consider a water procurement program that will essentially pay Upper Basin farmers to fallow their ground and send the water downstream to prop up water elevations in Lake Powell.
This will assist in meeting the Upper Basin state’s obligations under the Colorado River Compact to deliver 75 million acre feet on a 10-year rolling average, or essentially 7.5 million acre-feet per year to the Lower Basin States of California, Arizona and Nevada. Failure to meet these obligations may result in mandatory curtailment of Upper Basin water use.
The Colorado River Authority is implementing this type of program for 2023 modeled after the System Conservation Pilot Program, which tested this fallowing concept between 2014 and 2018. Several farmers in the Carbon and Emery County area participated in the program during that time period. The authority is reauthorizing the program for 2023 and has offered a base price of $150 for an acre-foot of water for farmers interested in participating.
Jay Mark Humphrey, who serves on the Colorado River Authority Board, pointed out that most irrigation companies in Emery County have bylaws that prohibit the water being used outside of the irrigation company service area. Stilson confirmed that point and stated that farmers would need to work with their respective irrigation companies to address this issue, should they wish to participate in 2023.
Board member Leon McElprang pointed out the controversial nature of this issue and expressed concern about sending water downstream that could be put to use by local farmers. The Upper Basin States and the Lower Basin States are currently in negotiations to address the crisis on the Colorado River system, which has seen average annual flows drop from 15 million acre feet to around 12 million acre feet.