Castle Valley water committee prioritizes metering and expanded monitoring to prepare for likely state mandate

John Grewe, Castle Valley’s water agent and newly elected committee chair, opened the Water Advisory Committee’s first meeting by asking members to focus on priorities drawn from the town’s water-management plan. The group agreed to make metering and stepped-up monitoring its top near-term effort.

Grewe said the goal is to “stay ahead” of what he described as an inevitable state requirement: “I’m utterly convinced that it’s just a matter of time before the state mandates metering,” he said, arguing that early action will reduce long-term cost and administrative burden.

The committee discussed two technical approaches. One uses direct flow meters; another measures electric current to infer pump use. An advisor reported that the Division of Water Rights would accept calibrated electric-current readings and that the hardware is noninvasive for many wells. A consultant already has test devices deployed: “We have devices running for over a year,” one speaker said, and hardware has functioned satisfactorily in volunteer wells.

Members agreed Sarah Stock, the town’s incoming water agent, will lead the metering research and coordinate with consultant Egmont. Stock said she will take responsibility for implementation planning and regular reporting back to the committee and the town council.

Committee members proposed a phased pilot: begin with volunteer wells, estimate the number of devices needed to cover the town’s town-right allocations, and develop cost estimates before seeking council approval or grant funding. Egmont warned that system design depends heavily on scale: a 50-well pilot differs from a full-town deployment.

Beyond metering, the committee prioritized improved monitoring infrastructure. The Colorado River Authority already maintains a lower-valley gauge, and members pressed to re-establish a permanent gauging station on Upper Castle Creek to link streamflow with aquifer models. Pam Hackley volunteered to steward the gauging-station effort. The committee also discussed converting or adding a seventh dedicated monitoring well near the Castle Creek–Shafer Lane intersection; John Grewe said he will contact the private owner about a potential easement and cost estimate.

The committee framed the metering/monitoring work as a multi-step, grant-dependent effort that will require several months of technical research and quiet consultation with the Division of Water Rights before public proposals or council actions.

The committee set metering as a follow-up agenda item for the next meeting and asked staff to provide cost scenarios for pilot and full-coverage options.