No new wells, not even to supply single family needs, are being allowed in Utah and Goshen valleys as of Nov. 15, according to the state engineer's office.
"The surface (and ground) water is fully appropriated," said Jerry Olds, assistant state engineer, during the Utah Valley Growth Summit at Utah Valley State College on Wednesday.People who want to have new domestic wells will have to acquire water rights and transfer them to their site under a change application. Olds said the county has plenty of water, it's just a matter of acquiring the rights.
Meanwhile, the state engineer's office has banned new wells near the mouth of the Spanish Fork Canyon because of a contaminant plume from the Trojan Powder Plant that has settled into the ground. Jim Riley, regional engineer, said he didn't know what action would be taken to clean it up.
Olds said the state water policy is dynamic, but he assumed that the new restrictions would be "hard and fast."