HERRIMAN — To better manage water consumption and rapid residential growth, city officials have decided to take control of the municipal water service.
The Herriman City Council unanimously approved the creation of the municipal water district, which will begin service Jan. 2. The district will serve all of Herriman's residents, replacing the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District as the provider of residential water.
The municipal water district will not change the current base water rate of $12.60 a month per residence, and the only rate increase is an escalating conservation rate between $1.21 and $1.37 per 1,000 gallons for water used over 10,000 gallons. The biggest impact will be on developers and homebuilders, who will be charged a $1,750 impact fee per building permit; that fee will be waived if a water right of 1.3 acre-feet is conveyed to the city.
Mayor Lynn Crane said that they decided to create a municipal district after talking to almost a half-dozen other cities who had multiple water providers for their residents.
"We were advised, without exception, that we should consolidate our municipal water services," Crane said. "We certainly think there is an economy of scale."
The new flat impact fee will not depend on the size of a building lot, primarily to encourage the building of bigger lots in Herriman, Crane said. With a tiered fee, "we thought we were punishing the developers who were willing to put in larger lots . . . we were encouraging the smaller lots with a break on the impact fee."
The impact fee will be used by the city to acquire more water rights, Crane said.
"The city is growing, and with each new home there is the need for more water," he said. "That is part of the impact, and that is why there is a fee."
With its foot still firmly set in its agricultural and equestrian roots, the larger lots seen in Herriman do not necessarily use the kind of water that large lots in more urbanized areas of the county typically consume, councilman Jerry Walker said.
"A lot of it is horse pasture or open fields," he said. "A horse doesn't use as much water as a human."
E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com