*This article was edited since publication to correct the spelling of Mayor Olson’s name from Olsen.
In the new City Council’s first Work Council Meeting, Santaquin’s past, present, and future water situation was discussed.
This is in alignment with Mayor Olson’s campaign promise to look into and plan for the Central Utah Project (CUP) water lines that will soon be completed.
But the question remains. Will we have enough water? The answer that the administration gave was: yes! and no.
… Never fear! Santaquin’s water in 2022 is plentiful. Your tap and shower will continue to have seemingly-endless amounts of water.
That being said, the citizens of Santaquin and the City will need water for years to come, so what is the City Council doing to ensure that it happens?
There are several plans in motion to ensure that Santaquin’s thirst is quenched.
First, prior to 2019, when a developer or a local wanted to annex their property into Santaquin, they were required to have water rights and to contribute those rights to the City. This would enable the city to provide for the water needs of the homes that would be built on the property. So, no water rights, no joining our lovely Santaquin.
Unfortunately, this caused some issues for developers on Summit Ridge, where there had never been water rights associated with that land. In fact, a bidding war commenced between the City and developers.
In 2019, in an attempt quell the bidding war and make it easier to join the City, the then City Council altered the policies to allow incoming land owners and developers the ability to pay money “in-lieu-of” water rights. The City would then use that money to buy water rights from surrounding land owners.
The second plan to keep our water running was put into action decades ago when Santaquin City joined the Central Utah Water Project (CUP).
The progress on the long-awaited CUP was a happy surprise to the 2019 City Council. They set out to prepare for its arrival (and the annual $300k debt service payment that would come with it for 50 years) in two ways:
1) Maximize money on hand to pay for the debt. (The account is now up to $1.8 million, $50k in surplus to estimates for this point.
2) Increase the user rates $.50 over four years. (That didn’t happen in 2019. Instead, in June 2021 rates increased $1, and rates are anticipated to raise again by $1 in June of 2022.)
The administration ended the presentation by letting the council know that Santaquin easily has the next 18 years of water ready to go.
The City is also making progress on installing water tanks in Summit Ridge.