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Two local infrastructure requests: Mountain Green sewer seeks $600,000; Central Iron County seeks $4 million for reuse pipeline
Summary
Lawmakers heard two local requests: Mountain Green asked for $600,000 one-time for sewer upgrades tied to anticipated Olympic event demand, and Central Iron County requested $4 million toward an $11.4 million reuse pipeline to bring treated wastewater back into secondary irrigation systems to avoid future groundwater curtailments.
Two local infrastructure requests were presented to the subcommittee.
Representative Anne Milner introduced Jeremy Sorenson, manager of the Mountain Green Sewer Improvement District, who requested a one-time $600,000 appropriation to upgrade the Mountain Green wastewater treatment plant and support sewer improvements associated with anticipated Olympic-season demand and water-conservation goals. Sorenson said the district’s total project costs exceed $29 million and that the $600,000 request is modest relative to the full scope.
Representative Rex Shipp and Paul Munro, director of the Central Iron County Water Conservancy District, described a reuse pipeline project to return treated wastewater to Cedar City's secondary system. Munro said the basin’s safe yield is about 21,000 acre-feet while current annual use is about 28,000 acre-feet and that groundwater curtailments for junior water rights could begin in 2035 absent mitigation. Phase 1 — a plant upgrade to produce type‑1 reuse water — is under construction (a $5.4 million project partially funded with $1.2 million in ARPA funds). Phase 2, the pipeline and pump station to bring the reclaimed supply back into the municipal secondary system, is estimated at $11.4 million; the district requested $4.0 million from the state and plans to cover the remainder locally.
Munro said the pipeline work is scheduled for construction in 2025–26 with an online date near 2027 and that many funding partners have committed to the local share. Lawmakers asked about nitrogen levels in reclaimed water and the district said the plant had a prior upgrade to remove nitrogen that should make the water suitable for the intended landscape and agricultural uses.
Both presenters said projects support local water resilience and help avoid costly curtailments and emergency responses if aquifer declines continue.
