il-june-18

Our growers use flood and sprinkler
irrigation. Being in a mountain valley, those
up on the hillside prefer the sprinklers, while
those in the lower lands prefer flood. Flood
irrigation helps push salts down and keep the
nutrients going to the plant.
Kris Polly: Please describe your water delivery
system and its history.
Jeremy Sorensen: All our water originates in
the headwaters of the Strawberry River, which
then goes into the Green River, which flows
into the Colorado. All the water that we bring
across is considered Colorado River drainage.
SWUA relies on Strawberry Reservoir for
storage of those waters.
The Strawberry Valley Project was built
in the early 1900s. Project builders drilled
a tunnel through the Wasatch Front from
both directions. Those men were working by
candlelight and with horses, but by coming
from both sides, they were able to drill the
tunnel and only missed by about 6 inches.
Prior to 1991, SWUA maintained and
operated Strawberry Reservoir, collecting
both grazing and recreation fees to cover
operational costs. This was great for our water
users; SWUA was able to charge a minimal
assessment to our water users because the fees
around the reservoir covered our costs.
After 1991, the Central Utah Project (CUP)
brought additional Colorado River water into
the reservoir. CUP took a 260,000-acre-foot
reservoir and increased it to 1 million acrefeet,
guaranteeing SWUA 61,000 acre-feet
every year. The relationship has benefitted our
shareholders. It has provided SWUA with
certainty and created storage space for CUP,
which now operates the reservoir.
Interestingly, after SWUA signed the
agreement, CUP built a new tunnel—again
digging from each direction—and they were
off by more than 60 feet.
Kris Polly: SWUA is seeking title transfer of
parts of the Strawberry Valley Project. What
elements of the project are you seeking to gain
title to?
Jeremy Sorensen: We are seeking the title to
power plants and our main canal, and we are
also looking at trying to get the water rights.
We see a lot of the issues with the actual
water rights, so we are just trying to ensure that
8
the federal government no longer has a say in
what we can and cannot do. We have had so
many problems with the federal government—
with someone else in charge and a whole new
set of rules that we cannot live up to—because
we already have a precedent. We are then told
that we have been doing things illegally, even
though they have been aware of everything
going on. It is difficult to do business with an
organization that works that way.
Kris Polly: Do the problems that you are
referring to relate to some of the water that has
gone to small-acreage irrigators?
Jeremy Sorensen: Yes. Several years ago,
Reclamation issued a footnote to a directive
indicating that contractors can deliver to smallacreage
irrigators. Yet, the federal government
continued to tell us that we could not deliver
to any small lots. One of our shareholders, a
local city, sued us. The city’s residents had relied
on this water for nearly 70 years, and we were
required to give it to them. There we were,
with shareholders who own the water that
SWUA could not deliver because the federal
government would not allow us. Fortunately,
we were able to work through it.
Being the first water project in Utah,
everything was a learning process. The way
they set it up 100 years ago does not work as
well today because of the encroachment of
urbanization. We need to adapt.
Kris Polly: Has there been a solution to this
issue?
Jeremy Sorensen: Reclamation grandfathered
us in so that we can deliver to small lots. The
water has to be tied to the ground, and the
city does not own the ground; the homeowner
does. Reclamation created the water dedication
agreement, which allows the water to be tied
to the ground inside the city limits, but the city
becomes a subdelivery agent. We bill the city,
the city bills the shareholders through their
monthly billing, and the city is then able to
deliver the water to the user.
Title transfer will help with this contracting
process. Our other growing cities have a good
grasp of state law, but they struggled to work
under Reclamation law.
Kris Polly: What other benefits do you think
title transfer will bring to your shareholders?
Close-up view of the
Spanish Fork River
Diversion Dam.
STRAWBERRY WATER
USERS ASSOCIATION'S
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Scott Phillips
PRESIDENT
Kevin Anderson
VICE PRESIDENT
Calvin Crandall
Jesse Warren
J. Merrill Hallam
Lynn Swenson
Neil Sorensen
Bill Beck
Kenny Seng
Kelly Lewis
Guy Larson
Robert McMullin
Curtis Rowley
Curtis Thomas
Reid Stubbs
IRRIGATION LEADER