APPLE VALLEY, Washington County — Nearly 200 people in southern Utah now have reliable running water again after nearly a decade.
Half of the town of Apple Valley, located near the Utah-Arizona border in Washington County, has been without standard drinking water, but today a new pipeline has restored it.
Imagine your drinking water being brown and gross, and just accepting that's a way of life. Now, people in the Cedar Point neighborhood in Apple Valley can finally raise a glass, for those days are over.
Mike Farrar, the Apple Valley mayor, said the east part of town, located near the Arizona border, has been without reliable drinking water for more than 15 years – contaminated, brown and smelly.
Then things went completely awry when the town's wells dried up in 2023, and the state declared an emergency. Although water service was later restored, it wasn't up to federal standards until Monday.
Monday's ribbon cutting represented the completion of a $3.3 million pipeline running reliable water to the Cedar Point neighborhood, and restoring water service to 170 homes, with some help from Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.
"He said he wouldn't leave me to deal with this alone. He said he would help me, and he put me in contact with some people, then from there it was just squeaky wheel gets the oil," Farrar said.
The state, mayor's office, the local water district, and contractors all played a role in finishing the 6-mile pipeline and booster station, bringing the clean water back. That means people there can drink the water again and feel confident that it checks all the boxes.
