Water rights and contract agreements on the use of water, a precious resource in dry desert country like Utah, date back to the pioneers.
When the Salt Lake Valley was settled, City Creek was designated as the original supply source. But almost immediately, the pioneers went into the countryside and started digging ditches, diverting water from Big Cotttonwood, Little Cottonwood and Mill creeks.Some of the earliest water rights date back to 1848.
People who dug the ditches and their heirs were the original owners of water rights in Big and Little Cottonwood creeks, Parleys Creek and Mill Creek, said LeRoy W. Hooton Jr., director of the Salt Lake City Public Utilities Department.
When the supply of City Creek water was exhausted, the early settlers dug a canal that brought Utah Lake water to the Salt Lake Valley. But the lake water was never suitable for drinking, Hooton said.
"Utah Lake water is good for irrigation but it is not high-quality mountain water. So the idea evolved for an exchange of water through contract agreements (with irrigators)," said Hooton.
Under the agreements, the city would replace the high-quality drinking water from the canyons with less potable Utah Lake water.
"With Utah Lake water available, farmers were guaranteed a firm, stored water supply through the entire irrigation season. So it was welcomed because it helped the farmers, and the city got a higher quality of water out of the canyons. Originally, the agreements were good for everybody," Hooton said.
The first exchange agreement on Parleys Creek was made in 1888, and others followed as the city's population grew. An exchange with shareholders of Big Cottonwood Creek was made in 1904. In 1905 an agreement was reached with the Big Ditch and Lower Canal owners.
Most of the exchange agreements were completed by the 1930s and have been in effect since that time. Many have been in effect for 60 years or more.
Hooton said the city has exchange contracts with some 12 irrigation companies.
"If you drive around eastern Salt Lake County you can still see little ditches and canals along the streets, delivering irrigation water to small gardens and yards," Hooton said. "The county still has a thriving agri-business on the southeastern tip of Salt Lake County and the southwestern part of the valley."
A lot of agricultural land has been lost to subdivisions and shopping centers, but "if you fly over this (Salt Lake) valley you will see that a tremendous amount of acreage is still in cultivation," said Brad Gardner, Utah Lake and Jordan River water commissioner.
Hooton said Salt Lake City uses "only 10 percent of (Utah Lake) water. The rest of it is going to the agri-business. But the 10 percent is important because it is the mechanism to get the drinking water out of the canyons. So the retail value of the drinking water is worth about $200 an acre-foot, while agricultural water runs about $10 to $20 an acre-foot," he said.
The difficulty this year, he said, is that there is not enough water in Utah Lake, and the lake level is also threatened next year.
"So we have got to make plans next year as well on how we're going to honor the contracts. This is critical to Salt Lake City's municipal water system," Hooton said.