Assistant State Engineer Chase McDonald briefs public on Midway subdivision proposed water‑rights determination

Assistant State Engineer Chase McDonald of the Utah Division of Water Rights led a public meeting to explain the office's proposed determination for the Midway subdivision in the Utah Lake–Jordan River general adjudication and how residents can access records and object.

McDonald opened by saying, “We are recording this public meeting. We will be uploading it to YouTube later,” and described the meeting format: a presentation, a website tour of waterrights.utah.gov, a group Q&A, and staff‑assisted one‑on‑one help afterward. He said the proposed determination was published March 27 and that publication started the 90‑day window for filing written objections with the Third District Court, stressing that objections should include the civil case number and that a copy be sent to the Division.

The proposed determination (PD) compiles staff recommendations produced after field reviews and claim investigations. McDonald summarized the PD contents: a title page with court and case information; a notice to water users with instructions for filing objections; a preamble referencing prior decrees such as the Provo River decree; a priority schedule listing sources, priority dates, quantities and owners of record; individual water‑right descriptions (number, owner of record, type and quantity, priority date, source, point of diversion or well data, place and nature of use, and period of use); and a 35‑page hydrographic survey map set showing irrigated areas by water‑use group.

He explained key legal and procedural points that appear in the PD: the adjudication process is governed by Utah State Code Title 73, Chapter 4; pre‑statutory (often called "grandfathered") surface rights were those put to beneficial use before 1903 and underground sources before 1935; and statute allows forfeiture consideration for rights with seven or more years of non‑use. McDonald said the overall aim of the adjudication is a comprehensive decree that formally records and clarifies the nature and extent of all rights in the drainage, while also identifying forfeited or invalid claims.

On public access, McDonald demonstrated the Division's public mapping and records pages: map search with adjudication layers (Adjudication Book CC 5510 for Midway), red icons for groundwater and blue for surface sources, and water‑right detail pages containing scanned documents, state‑engineer memos, and the office's recommendation that should match the PD. He noted an alphabetic index in the PD (beginning at page 293) to help residents find water‑right numbers by owner name, point of diversion and source.

During the live website tour staff experienced intermittent database errors; McDonald apologized and offered to help anyone who has trouble accessing materials by phone or email. He also walked attendees through where PD objections and related documents will appear on the Division's adjudication status page and explained that for any objection a potentially affected party (PAP) notice form can be uploaded and filed with the court to receive notifications about filings on that objection.

In the group Q&A a participant asked whether only owners may file objections; McDonald replied, “No. Anybody can file an objection to any of the recommendations in the proposed determination,” and reiterated the process for self‑identifying as a potentially affected party to receive updates. He closed the recorded portion of the meeting and said Division staff and Mike Ferguson, a representative from the Attorney General's office, would remain to answer individual questions.

The Division published the full proposed determination and supporting scanned documents on its public site and filed the PD with the district court; residents should use the PD's civil case number when filing objections. Those with questions about specific water rights were invited to meet with staff after the recording for case‑specific assistance.