By all means, Utah water districts should consider incentives to encourage water conservation. Whether it's a rebate or some other recognition, a carrot approach may be helpful in easing supply concerns in the arid West. Water districts also need to take a hard look at water policy with respect to large users, who should pay for water development and whether paying the true cost of water would, in itself, encourage a culture of conservation.
The Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District is to be commended for undertaking a comprehensive financial review and water-rate study. The study will consider the interplay of property taxes, user fees and impact fees as revenue sources. Conservation incentives will also be examined.
These issues must be carefully deliberated because water districts need sufficient revenues to ensure adequate supplies, yet their policies must encourage responsible use. It's a difficult balancing act.
But it can be frustrating to private property owners who pay a monthly water bill in addition to a property tax assessment for various water districts. While large water users may pay sizable water bills, many large water users such as schools, subdivisions of government and churches are assessed no property tax. Of course, if water development costs were part of monthly water bills, government entities would pass the costs on to taxpayers.
Clearly, there are so simple solutions to addressing who pays for water and its development. But there is seemingly a policy disconnect when one contemplates the huge discrepancy between what Utahns pay for water and what it costs. Utah is one of the few states that depend heavily on property taxes to fund water development and delivery. Because those taxes are stable and do not fluctuate with consumption, consumers may be unaware of the true cost of water delivery. Thus, there is little incentive to conserve.
When drought is so severe in some parts of the West that water managers are levying fines to people who violate restrictions and threaten to cut off service to repeat offenders, Westerners need to become more aware of water policy and conservation issues. Certainly, considerable study must be undertaken to ensure that Utah's water development will accommodate anticipated population increases and any shift in revenue would cover the respective water district's indebtedness and management costs.
We trust the comprehensive study that the Jordan Valley Water Conservation District will undertake and the legislative task force on water issues will shed light on some possible revisions in Utah water policy that address these weighty concerns.