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Ivins staff recommend dropping residential secondary water requirement; council gives direction to pursue targeted non‑potable use
Summary
Staff described a master‑plan update that reduces the city’s residential secondary water obligation to zero and recommends directing limited secondary (non‑potable) supplies to parks, schools and cemetery; council generally supported directing consultants to pursue a plan without residential secondary water.
Ivins staff told the council March 5 they are moving away from a citywide residential secondary (non‑potable) water build‑out after consultant analysis showed high costs and declining outdoor use.
Tom summarized the 2019 plan and the consultant’s updated findings: the district reduced Ivins’ residential secondary allocation from about 600 acre‑feet to zero because outdoor water demand and cost‑effectiveness did not justify extending a full secondary distribution system to most homes. Tom said the city should continue to deliver non‑potable water where infrastructure and need already exist — parks, schools and the cemetery — and tailor culinary system changes accordingly. “If you’re open to the idea of having our consultants and staff pursue the idea of just no residential secondary water, we would like some buy‑off from council on that,” Tom said.
Council members voiced broad support for pursuing a design that avoids adding distribution for residential secondary meters, noting cost, maintenance and future uncertainties with demand. Tom estimated full buildout costs could be on the order of tens of millions; he said earlier phases were previously estimated in the low‑to‑mid tens of millions and full buildout could approach $30 million.
Council gave staff direction to proceed with consultant work scoped to focus secondary water on institutional and public uses and to return with detailed financial and implementation impacts for formal consideration.
