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Statewide infrastructure portal collects 4,100+ projects; board told to add projects but questions remain about how scores will affect rural water providers
Summary
Officials outlined the Unified Water Infrastructure Plan and Utah Project Portal, which gathered 4,167 projects totaling about $24 billion in year-one submissions; the Water Development Coordinating Council (WDCC) will prioritize projects and oversee distribution of any Water Infrastructure Fund appropriations, but board members voiced concern that provisional scoring could disadvantage rural irrigation companies.
Eric Dixon of the Division of Water Resources and consultant staff summarized the Unified Water Infrastructure Plan (UWIP) and the Utah Project Portal, the central database lawmakers created to collect and prioritize water infrastructure needs statewide. Dixon said the first year produced 4,167 project submissions from 263 entities totaling roughly $24 billion in project cost and an estimated $6.3 billion state funding need; of those, 713 projects from 115 entities were categorized within Water Resources (about $4.2 billion total cost and an estimated $1.3 billion in state funding need).
Dixon explained that the Water Development Coordinating Council (WDCC) will run the prioritization process and distribute Water Infrastructure Fund dollars if they are appropriated. He said the portal and the UWIP do not replace existing board application procedures, but agencies will expect projects to be entered into the portal so they can be considered for future WIF grants or redistributions of unobligated funds at fiscal year end.
"The whole purpose of the WDCC is more to kind of gather the information, put together how much additional funding is being recommended," Dixon said, describing how unobligated funds at fiscal year end could be consolidated into the pool the WDCC manages.
Board members raised concerns that elements of the provisional scoring—such as population‑benefit weighting—could disadvantage rural irrigation companies and small systems that lack formal planning documents. Staff and consultants said provisional scores are a first step: relevant agencies will re‑rank and can solicit additional detail from project sponsors, and planning projects and small‑community allowances are included in the UWIP to help smaller systems become eligible.
Staff urged boards and applicants to ensure needed projects are registered in the portal (staff set a May 1 submission cycle for the initial run) so the projects will appear in agency plans and the UWIP priority lists. Officials said the Division expects minimal procedural change for routine loan applications in the near term, but the portal will become central for any future WIF grant allocations and for consolidated unobligated fund distributions.
