Tooele City Council adopts six-month temporary rule giving city discretion to reject developer water rights

The Tooele City Council on June 4 approved Ordinance 2025-10, a temporary land-use regulation that gives the city, including the mayor and staff, explicit discretion to reject water-rights offers from developers that the city determines are not developable or otherwise unacceptable.

The measure takes effect on a temporary basis for up to six months while the city studies and brings forward a permanent regulation through the planning commission and a follow-up council vote.

City attorney Roger Baker told the council the change updates how Tooele evaluates water-rights exactions from developers and formalizes the citys discretion. "This ordinance simply gives you and the mayor and her staff an opportunity to look at the water rights, see if they can actually be developed, and if they can't, to reject them for, not meeting the city's needs," Baker said, describing the need to match legal water-right certificates to actual water sources.

Why it matters: Baker told the council the eastern Tooele Valley is now over-appropriated, meaning more water rights have been authorized than there is water available. The ordinance is intended to protect the city from accepting paper water rights that cannot practically be put to beneficial use in local sources.

Key details: Baker traced the city's water-rights exaction process to ordinances from the late 1990s and said the state division of water rights remains the definitive authority on whether a right is valid and where it can be used. He outlined risks that can make a water right unsuitable, including rights that have lapsed from nonuse or rights that appear duplicative in state records.

Council discussion and vote: Councilwoman Goches moved approval and Councilman McCall seconded. Councilwoman Manzion, Councilwoman Goches, Councilman McCall and Councilman Brady voted aye. Councilman Hansen abstained, saying he was "just really uncomfortable" and would not vote against the measure but opted not to support it. The motion passed, recorded as four ayes and one abstention.

Next steps: The ordinance is temporary for up to six months; city staff will pursue a permanent ordinance following the planning commission public hearing process Baker described, including notice and a planning commission recommendation.

Discussion vs. decision: The council's vote enacts a temporary city code change (formal action). Councilmembers also discussed who will perform the technical review; Baker said staff will advise the council and the city will consult the state division of water rights on technical determinations.

Sources: Remarks from Roger Baker, city attorney, and recorded council roll call and vote during the Tooele City Council meeting on June 4, 2025.