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SALT LAKE CITY — Not everyone is a fan of a deal reached between Utah Transit Authority and Division of Water Resources to jointly purchase land in Box Elder County for future projects.
Some believe the deal was done in the dark, the plan is managed and the project would be misguided.
“It’s disappointing on many fronts,” said Zach Frankel, executive director of the Utah Rivers Council, a non-profit group focused on protecting Utah’s rivers and water sources.
The deal between UTA and the Division of Water Resources was announced on Dec. 5. UTA, which had already made previous arrangements with Box Elder County, wanted a corridor near an existing Union Pacific line for potential future railroad lines, should FrontRunner expand to Brigham City in the future decades.
Water Resources wanted land next to land UTA sought after for a potential future underground pipe for its Bear River Project. The two agencies planned to jointly purchase various properties throughout the county, just in case future population growth and price would make seeking the land difficult in 10 to 20 years.
But Frankel said the agencies’ announcement means the cat is out of the bag, which could mean those who currently own the property could ask for a higher price because they know it’s desired land — which, in turn, could cost the taxpayer more. On top of that, he accused DWR of being mum on the topic until last week.
“The lack of transparency from the Division of Water Resources has shown is shocking,” Frankel said, saying he’s seen more transparency at town halls for his neighbor building a shed than a taxpayer-funded project.
However, Marisa Egbert, an engineer for the Division of Water Resources, contends that going public with the deal with UTA to purchase land didn’t jeopardize the cost because they’re only asking for willing sellers to come forward at the moment. She said there will be appraisals done and most of the land they’re looking at hasn’t been developed yet.
“We’re not negotiating above that appraisal price,” Egbert said.
The Utah Rivers Council, which was founded in 1994, has been a vocal opponent to the Bear River Development. The project, which formed in the 1991 but has been pushed back several times, is Utah’s future plan to bring water from the Bear River to the counties living in the state’s population center. It includes multiple proposed dams.
Frankel argues that project would continue to dry up the Great Salt Lake, which would then create a series of new environmental problems for northern Utah, and that the state should focus on improving its management of the current water supply instead.
Egbert said the project has been delayed because the need for the water from Bear River hasn’t existed yet. She said it likely wouldn’t come into play until at least 2040 or 2050, if not longer, and the division will focus on water management until that need comes.
“We’re just planning ahead,” Egbert said. “We’re trying to stay ahead of the housing and development, where we’re not trying to knock on people’s doors in 20, 30, 40 years and say ‘we’ve got to come through here.’ … We don’t want to take Bear River Development off the table until the legislature tells us we should. We’ve been directed to continue to planning, projecting and looking forward.”
In the meantime, Frankel hopes the division will be transparent about its plans for the future water project and allow the public to have a say in the issue.
“It’s critical that the public be allowed to input and understand what’s being proposed,” he said.
