Toquerville hears tank repair update and raises concerns about district drought plan that would require 20% cuts

City staff briefed the Toquerville City Council on two water items May 20: a technical update about the city’s new 2-million-gallon tank and a broader discussion of a Washington County regional drought contingency plan being proposed by the conservancy district.

Tank update: Darren, a city staff member overseeing construction, said the new tank has not passed a “drop test” and the current plan is to have divers place caps on the inlet and outlet and inspect sleeves and seams. The contractor schedule calls for divers in about two weeks. The contractor and developer remain responsible under warranty for addressing the defect, Darren said, and the city has sought jurisdictional transfer language with UDOT for related road and sand-pocket work.

District drought proposal: Ben, the city manager, summarized a proposed drought-contingency approach the county conservancy district developed to define staged reductions. Under the plan’s Stage 2, the district would impose a 20% reduction target; the plan includes progressively stricter measures (e.g., limits on ornamental lawn irrigation, pool permits and other nonessential uses) as stages increase.

Council concerns included the definition of the 20% baseline, whether the target is a single-year cut or a rolling average, how enforcement would work, and how the plan accounts for local water rights and the city’s existing conservation achievements. “The target big number is 20%,” Ben said, and councilmembers asked how that is calculated; staff said several inputs — reservoir level, snowpack, spring flow and demand — go into the conservancy district’s formula and that some inputs and definitions are not yet clearly defined.

Several council members argued Toquerville has already reduced demand and questioned whether the city should adopt the conservancy district’s plan. The council noted that Toquerville purchased and holds significant water rights and that reuse and local supply changes (including the reuse plant and Anderson Junction well) affect future supply calculations. Council consensus was to gather written concerns and have the city manager and mayor represent Toquerville at the conservancy district’s administrative advisory committee and seek clearer definitions and a cost/impact analysis.

No formal vote on the district plan was taken at tonight’s meeting. Council members asked staff to collect comments from council and residents and return with a recommendation and suggested edits so the council can decide whether to adopt, opt out or propose alternative measures.