Board hears legislative and program updates; counsel requests closed-session briefing on Great Salt Lake litigation

Division Director Joel Williams and staff used the March 18 meeting to brief the Utah Board of Water Resources on legislative results, conservation programs and large planning tools, and to highlight pending litigation funding.

Legislative and funding updates: Williams and staff said the legislature appropriated an additional $6.2 million for dam safety; combined with the existing $3.8 million this yields approximately $10 million annually for dam-safety projects. Staff said this funding will be transferred from the C&D fund into the revolving construction fund for dam-safety use and will help address rising project costs.

Other bills discussed included House Bill 296 (allows a water provider to add a commitment of water to the Great Salt Lake in conservation plans), HB313 (landscaper certification training requirements, including six hours with at least one hour on water-conservation landscaping), and HB473 (Colorado River Authority amendments to move the authority into the Department of Natural Resources and expand the authority board). Staff also summarized several bills that did not pass this year, such as proposals on nonfunctional turf definitions and water-loss studies.

Program updates and planning tools: staff noted the Unified Water Infrastructure Plan (UWIP) and the Utah Project Portal (open since November) as tools for compiling water-infrastructure projects statewide and for annual updates; staff said the state water plan draft will be released for director-level review next week with a wider public draft in May. The Transparent Water Billing application opened March 16 and is open through May 15 for providers seeking billing and customer-communication improvements.

Attorney request and closed session: Sarah Schechter, board counsel, asked to brief the board in closed session on Great Salt Lake litigation and said the legislature had appropriated $5 million for litigation related to the Great Salt Lake and the Colorado River. The board later took a motion, held a roll-call vote and proceeded into a closed session under Utah Code section 52-4-205(1)(c); the chair later reported that no public action was taken during the closed session.

Accessibility and outreach: staff also described an accessibility initiative to make board reports and online materials screen-reader friendly and to remove unnecessary home addresses from posted materials; staff said the deadline for certain accessibility changes is near the end of April.

Why it matters: the legislative appropriations and program tools shape what projects the division can fund and prioritize, and litigation funding and closed-session legal briefings signal ongoing high-stakes litigation affecting state water policy and resources.

Next steps: staff will circulate drafts of the state water plan and UWIP materials as described; the board will receive further briefings on the UWIP and project-portal impacts at future meetings.