Grantsville council tables Deseret Development water-credit agreement after multi-hour discussion

The Grantsville City Council on Nov. 5 tabled consideration of a proposed Master Water Service Agreement with Deseret Development after lengthy presentations from city counsel and water attorney Jeff Gittens, extensive council questioning and public comment urging caution.

Outside counsel for the city reviewed the negotiated provisions and said the agreement does not sell water outright but instead would issue water-use credits to the developer, tied specifically to the Deseret project and conditioned on the agreement’s terms. Water attorney Jeff Gittens presented the city’s water inventory and his assessment of how much uncommitted municipal water could be available. He said the city’s total municipal water rights total 10,286.85 acre-feet; of that, 5,775.39 acre-feet are currently committed through dedications, banking or purchases tied to development, leaving a remainder that, after conservative buffers and previously pledged commitments (for example, Lakeview Business Park), the city estimates between roughly 1,880 and 2,280 acre-feet could be uncommitted and available for new allocations.

Gittens and outside counsel outlined the purchase schedule the developer had proposed (two tranches of 733.33 acre-feet each with an optional later tranche), and the contract language the city had negotiated to protect municipal interests, including: limiting assignability of credits to the Deseret development, a cap on total credits offered through the agreement, a right-of-first-refusal style mechanism if the city later commits large acre-feet to other developments, refund provisions if credits cannot be used, and indemnification language to require the developer to defend the city against third-party legal challenges.

During public comment, resident Gary Pickle urged the council to vote no, saying the Master Development Agreement and related documents were incomplete and expressing concern the city would permanently transfer water control to a private developer. Pickle also urged the city to rely on statutory protections and nonuse applications with the state engineer to preserve municipal water shares rather than enter into the proposed transaction.

Council members asked detailed technical and policy questions about the groundwater management plan, the difference between banked and committed water, the city’s current annual use (Gittens stated the city’s usage is a little over 2,000 acre-feet per year), and whether municipal aquifers showed signs of long-term depletion. Several members said they supported the basic goal of monetizing unused water to fund city priorities but were not yet comfortable approving the agreement without a clearer accounting of uncommitted/banked water, the final Master Development Agreement (MDA) language, and a more explicit city plan for how proceeds would be reserved and spent.

Developer representative John Johnson told the council his team would obtain water for the project by some means whether or not the city proceeded with this agreement; Johnson argued the community benefit comes if the city receives payment for credits rather than a handful of private sellers capturing the revenues.

After discussion the council voted to table resolution 2025-81, approving the Master Water Service Agreement for Deseret Development, with direction to staff and counsel to coordinate outstanding items with the pending MDA and to return a clean, final package to the council. The motion to table carried by voice vote.