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Commissioners discuss Promise Rock development and Tropic Reservoir drainage; state lawmaker to hold interim hearing
Summary
Commissioners heard updates on community opposition to the proposed Promise Rock development, local leaders— efforts to involve the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA), and mounting concerns about Tropic Reservoir drainage after a state engineer directive.
Commissioners received extended board reports on land-use and water issues, including citizen opposition to the proposed Promise Rock development and concern over actions at Tropic Reservoir that local officials described as draining water below downstream users.
A county commissioner said state Representative Carl Albrecht, who the commissioner described as an advocate for rural Utah despite not representing the county—s district, will put the Promise Rock matter on an interim natural-resources committee agenda. The commissioner said Albrecht has asked SITLA officials, including Warren Peterson, to participate and that Albrecht may pursue legislation this interim to protect historical sites like Promise Rock; the commissioner said the bill could move this summer or fall. The county report did not provide text of any bill or confirm sponsors in both legislative chambers.
On Tropic Reservoir, the commissioner said the state engineer had directed the reservoir be drained before reopening a pipe, and that local irrigators and residents are upset at what they described as water being released with insufficient downstream flow. The commissioner said the state engineer agreed to tour the affected reach with local officials and that Representative Albrecht planned to invite the relevant state staff to an interim committee hearing to question their actions. Commissioners described the situation as unresolved and pledged further scrutiny by local and state representatives.
The commissioner also discussed grazing-allotment and water-development matters tied to the federal Grazing Improvement Program and said local ranchers should apply for water-development funding; he noted that those projects typically require collaboration with the Forest Service or BLM to complete National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) steps. No binding county action or appropriation on Promise Rock or Tropic Reservoir was taken at the meeting.
