“This is fundamentally about fairness,” proclaimed Mayors Erin Mendenhall, Jeff Silvestrini, Rob Dahle and Mike Peterson in the Deseret News in October 2020.
These mayors were urging their constituents and the residents of Utah to vote for Constitutional Amendment D, which ensures “continuing (water) service to all existing customers,” even those living outside a city’s municipal boundaries. Constitutional Amendment D received unanimous support by the state House and Senate and statewide support of over 60% of voters.
After the successful statewide effort to ensure “fairness” and permanency to all water customers, Utah voters naturally assumed that all were accounted for. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
In certain places in Utah, outside a city’s limits or its “retail water service area,” certain residents rely on “contract water” for their culinary and fire suppression needs.
Unfortunately, many of the decades-old water contracts have not been updated and, in some cases, full-time residents are denied a “continuing (water) service.” In other words, for months out of the year, full-time residents have no water delivery to their homes, including no water in their fire hydrants. To compound the problem, many of these residents live in high or extreme wildfire danger zones.
My contract water bill (HB343) wraps up the unfinished business of Amendment D. HB343 acts as a “house-cleaning” bill, ensuring fairness and year-round water for culinary and fire suppression purposes for all. For more information about this important issue, visit LymanforUtah.com
I look forward to your support as we close this long overdue and dangerous loophole in Utah’s water practices.
Rep. Phil Lyman
Blanding