Board reviews ARPA metering allocations and prioritization as $12.3 million becomes available

Acting Chair Juliette Tenner opened the Board of Water Resources briefing and staff detailed the fifth round of ARPA‑funded secondary metering projects, explaining how returned funds and legislative exemptions over the prior rounds created $12,293,053.18 available for reallocation.

Staff presenter Marissa Egbert summarized the program’s history since August 2022 and said earlier legislative changes allowed some applicants to claim exemption from metering requirements, which returned money to the board. To distribute the newly available funds, staff converted statutory prioritization criteria (Utah Code 73‑10‑34.5) into numeric scores: 60% weight for estimated water‑use reduction per state investment, 20% for applicant‑facing current or potential water shortages, and 20% for accelerated and feasible construction schedules. An agency economist assisted in turning those criteria into a ranked list.

Ani Baynard, presenting project recommendations, said Mount Pleasant City (Sanpete County) has been deemed exempt by the Division of Water Rights and is withdrawing its March 2023 commitment of $2,002,000 in ARPA grant funds and a $729,000 loan; staff recommended formally withdrawing that project and returning the funds to the pool.

For new allocations staff recommended: authorizing Weber Box Elder Conservation District (Harrisville, Pleasant View, North Ogden and Ogden) for 60% of project cost up to $10,000,000 as a secondary‑meter grant, plus authorizing up to $7,737,000 in loan financing at 1% over 15 years with annual payments of approximately $600,000. Staff said the applicant has about 23,000 secondary connections (8,762 already metered) and expects annual conservation of about 2,819 acre‑feet upon completion. Board members clarified that the conservation estimate is annual.

Staff also recommended supporting South Ogden Conservation District (Ogden, South Ogden, Washington Terrace) for about 1,283 additional meters, with an advertised staff recommendation of 60% of project cost up to approximately $1.78 million as a grant and up to $1.584 million as a loan at 1% over 15 years (annual payment ~ $123,000). Morgan City was recommended for 60% of project cost up to $173,000 as a grant (about 107 meters, 150 connections). Marriott/Slaterville City sought roughly $306,000 (60% of a $510,000 project) to install 178 meters.

Staff emphasized that some packet figures contained transcription or formatting errors; where exact packet line items were garbled, staff relied on the underlying contract and finance documents to set final amounts for commitment and reimbursement.

Next steps: staff asked the board to proceed through individual motions during the formal meeting so legal and finance staff can be available and to ensure contracts and reimbursement details are correctly implemented. Several board members volunteered to make the motions for the withdrawals and authorizations at the formal meeting.

The briefing did not record final votes on those authorizations; staff presented recommendations and the board scheduled motions for the formal meeting later that morning.