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Council flags HB 60 changes to protest grounds, hears Colorado River Authority metering update
Summary
Council member Sarah Stock briefed the Water Advisory Council on HB 60, which narrows grounds for protesting water-rights applications, and Bob O’Brien reported on a Colorado River Authority presentation and potential state funding for water metering; Stock will follow up with Division contacts about metering assistance.
At the outset of the March 9 meeting, Sarah Stock reported on developments from the Utah legislative session, saying HB 60—Water Rights Amendments—limits the scope of protests to issues “directly related to the beneficial use of water; or the quantity, quality or availability of water in the state,” and removes previous language that allowed the State Engineer to deny applications for impacts to public recreation, the natural stream environment or the public welfare.
"HB60 requires the engineer to 'consider only issues directly related to: the beneficial use of water; or the quantity, quality or availability of water in the state,'" Stock said, summarizing the bill's key change. The committee discussed possible implications for local protests and Anderson said he would check the status of other water bills in the session.
Bob O’Brien briefly reported on a presentation by Marc Stilson to the Grand County Commission and said the committee discussed state Division of Water Resources funding opportunities for installing water meters. Members agreed that Stock should contact Marisa Egbert in the Division to gather details about available metering assistance.
No formal committee action was taken on HB 60 at the meeting; the item was treated as an informational update and the council asked staff to follow up on bill statuses and metering funding options.
