*Update*
Wolf Creek Water and Sewer has just lifted the moratorium for property owners. They are not however releasing water for developers at this time. So, if you have been waiting to build you can finally go for it!
The Wolf Creek Water and Sewer moratorium has been in place since July 27, 2021. The onset of this moratorium stopped all lot owners from receiving Will Serve letters, a proof of water source required to obtain a building permit or develop a new lot. The Will Serve letter is required for new construction to move forward on homesites that have been platted and recorded in most cases, for several years. These lot owners may have paid or unpaid connection fees but have been required to pay standby fees. It is our understanding that the current situation is strictly due to the availability of culinary and secondary water. This initial moratorium period was set to be in place until March of 2022. Property Owners were hopeful this would be the end of the moratorium and receive water.
Unfortunately, as of the March 10, 2022 review, Wolf Creek Water and Sewer announced they will not be issuing any letters presently and have postponed any future Will Serve letters indefinitely. With several homeowners ready to build, this has costly delays with building costs and interest rates climbing, living in a rental for an unforeseen amount of time due to the sale of their previous homes, etc. Utah is experiencing a drought and has been for 6 years; 2021 was the worst by far, sending Wolf Creek and Liberty water companies to pull back.
The pathway to obtain additional “wet water” includes drilling a new well, reducing the state requirement of per household usage on peak days, and redrilling older well(s) which have lower production now than in previous years. The water company has sufficient water rights, the issue is actually finding usable “wet water”.
A new well was started in roughly January just below Elkhorn Drive. The new well was intended to be 1200 feet deep. The well became unstable at approximately 530 feet and started to collapse on itself. Water testing was done at that depth which produced a high volume of water however that affected Eden Water Company’s water source. While this won’t work at higher flow rates, it is being tested at a lower flow rate to see how that impacts the Eden Water Company’s source.
In the event the new well can’t be used, other options are being pursued. A spring has been refurbished to address a water quality issue - the state will be testing it shortly. The spring flow has been restored to 20 gallons per minute close to its original flow of 25 GPM. There’s a well in Eden Hills that they've rehabbed. Its flow has been increased from 7 gallons per minute to 16 GPM, and chemical testing on that well is also pending. They have applied with the state of Utah to re-calculate the Peak Day gallons per day per home that is required. It has been reduced recently from 296 gallons per day per connection to 250 gallons per day per connection.
In addition, they requested ARPA funds from the county to drill wells and build another irrigation reservoir. Both of these grant requests are specific to funding the supply gap for unbuilt lots. The projected supply is not sufficient for the recording of new lots.
Developers in the area have proposed and drilled an additional well to provide water which has not yet been accepted by Wolf Creek Water & Sewer. The well has an odor to it but hasn’t been fully tested and nor has it been treated. It appears that the odor is getting better as they do the pump tests to verify the well.
Five other locations for a new well have been identified. Further information and meeting times can be found at wcwsid.com. The next public hearing will be held electronically via zoom and is slated for April 14, 2022 at 6:00 pm. Unfortunately, the last meeting was closed to the public. However, conversations with several clients lead us to believe that there is either litigation or pending litigation with more to follow if a solution isn’t found soon.
We are optimistic that a solution will come forth shortly. In the meantime, pray for rain and reduce your environmental footprint.
