RIVERTON — It's been a rough summer for Riverton residents who rely on water from Utah Lake to water their lawns.
First, a toxic algae bloom in the lake forced the city to shut down its secondary water system. Now, low water levels at the lake, brought on by years of drought, could shut the system down again more than a month ahead of schedule.
"There is a certain level where Utah Lake — when it goes to that level — the state engineer has to cut the (secondary) water off," Riverton Mayor Bill Applegarth said Sunday. "We have not been told by the state engineer that it will definitely be cut off.
"We have been told to prepare and conserve so that we can extend that (water) as long as we can," the mayor added.
State Engineer Kent Jones told the Deseret News Sunday that Utah Lake now has about 125,000 acre feet of water, which is the level at which he must turn off water to users who have a secondary right. This ensures that users with a primary right still receive the allotment of water they are entitled to receive.
"It hit that level last week," Jones said, noting that most entities and municipalities with secondary water rights have other primary water rights they can fall back on to keep their systems running.
Those who hold primary and secondary water rights in Utah Lake are meeting Tuesday to discuss their options, Jones said, adding that they have faced this problem in the past.
In 2004, Utah Lake water users were faced with a similar situation and developed a plan where all parties agreed to reduce their water use to levels that kept the water flowing for everyone.
"I'm encouraged by the spirit of cooperation that's out there to keep water flowing to the people," Jones said.
For now, Riverton doesn't have a viable way of replacing its secondary water if it gets turned off, Applegarth said. That means the city's 43,000 residents could be faced with letting their lawns go brown or using culinary water — which comes from another source and is much more costly — to keep their grass green.
The city has asked residents who live east of 2700 West to water only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in an effort to conserve as much water as possible. Residents west of 2700 West should water only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, Applegarth said. Everyone in Riverton is asked to keep their secondary water off on Sundays, the mayor said.
"We want to do everything we can to save water, slow the flow in the secondary system so we can elongate that shut off date as far as we can," he said.
The Riverton City Council will hold a special session Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall to discuss mandatory water restrictions, Applegarth said.
"If it comes to cutting (water) off, we will all survive somehow," the mayor said. "This is a very resilient community."
Email: gliesik@deseretnews.com
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