One issue we just haven't had space to cover in recent Newsletters is a troubling filing for an application to the State Engineer to change the Points of Diversion of certain claimed, but unconfirmed, water rights from in the Valley and at several old mining claims in the canyons, to the heads of Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons. The initial applicant, Mr. Wayne G. Crawford, stated in his application to the State Engineer that the proposed usage would be for over 5,000 families in Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons; and for resort uses including hotels, restaurants incidental irrigation, recreational use at campgrounds and public amenities. SAVE OUR CANYONS, other environmental advocates, the City of Salt Lake, the Town of Alta, and several other public entities have filed protests.
Mr. Crawford subsequently sold 98+% of his claimed interest in the water to the Snowbird Resort. An additional claim for water was filed by the Snowbird Resort which would be sufficient to support another 6,000 families. This application has not yet had a public hearing.
In Snowbird's statements, they claim that they will be able to satisfy the public interest through their recreational offerings, for which they need more water. We believe they're wrong. The public wants to make its own decisions regarding their recreation needs, some of which do not include industrial recreation, but include the peaceful enjoyment of the canyon, the meadows, the stream and the riparian areas. We don't think it is in the public interest for Snowbird to get water rights for 11,000 residences in Little Cottonwood Canyon and effectively de-water the creek.
Save Our Canyons position is that we do not think it is in the public's interest to turn control of the quality and quantity of water in those canyons over to private individuals or organizations when there appears to be nothing wrong with the way in which Salt Lake City is managing the watershed, nor do we want to see the canyons developed into small cities. September 8, 1997
Mr. Robert L. Morgan, P.E.
State Engineer
State of Utah
1636 West North Temple Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
RE: APPLICATION NUMBER 57-10151 (A70136) (SNOWBIRD: 4.0 cfs of 7/15/97)
Dear Mr. Morgan:
Citizens' Committee to SAVE OUR CANYONS, a 25 year old Salt Lake City based organization which is dedicated to the responsible development of the Wasatch Canyons commensurate with sound principles of conservation and environmental protections, hereby protests the above application by the Snowbird Resort. We request a public hearing on this matter.
We believe the development that could occur as a result of Snowbird's gaining this quantity of water will not be in the public interest. It will unreasonably affect public recreation and the natural stream environments involved. The proposed water usage clearly overbalances the ability of the Canyon to support the demands that related development would require.
It is widely accepted that as a practical matter, the more development in the canyons that are our watershed, the more chances there are for contamination. We are taking risks with each new activity permitted in the canyons. It only makes sense to try to limit overdevelopment of the canyons which may result in additional contamination. Experience has proven that it is difficult to have watershed enforcement in the canyons that is completely effective for sustaining water quality. Adequate enforcement is now being accomplished and can only be accomplished by a responsible government entity: The Salt Lake City Public Utilities Division. Individual activities that contribute to watershed degradation are very difficult to monitor. Property owners and organizations, even though they may have good intentions to comply with the city Watershed regulations, may have employees or other people at their canyon properties who can perform acts that are detrimental to the water quality of the canyons.
Development resulting from the 4.0 cfs (and the 3.0 cfs Crawford/Snowbird claim) would effectively de-water the valuable Little Cottonwood Creek because of the consumptive nature of the use which would remove water at the head of the Canyon and return it to the Jordan River by way of the sewer line/treatment plant/etc. Also, with more area covered by development, the result would be quicker runoff, higher velocity in the stream, and increased presence of petrochemicals from parking lots. These two major detrimental impacts to the environment are to more than the fishery and other riparian-area-related flora and fauna, which by themselves would be serious. More important, the Canyon and the Creek are used by thousands for solitude, bird watching, hiking, picnicking, and other nature-related recreational activities. If the Application is granted the nature of the canyon will be forever irrevocably changed for the worse. For whose benefit? Out of state skiers and a small number of developers. This travesty would not be in the public's interest.
The City's Watershed Water Sales Ordinance is consistent with the philosophy of the Salt Lake County Wasatch Canyons Master Plan which provides for no change in existing, large lot zoning for residentially zoned private property. It is also consistent with one of the principle features of the US Forest Service's Forest Management Plan and the City-County Health Department plans -- forestalling significant increases in parking in the watersheds. This Application which would permit the granting of this water application for over 6,000 residence equivalents is in conflict with these Regulations, and would result in the degradation of water quality to the public's detriment.
There is no acknowledged need for the claimed amount of water - either quantitatively or qualitatively. Save Our Canyons is active in the review of projects submitted by the Wasatch Front ski resorts, including Snowbird, for environmental review by the US Forest Service; and we are not aware of any lack-of-water-caused hardships that have been fostered upon the Snowbird Resort. Snowbird has submitted a plan for additional snowmaking with the Forest Service. Save Our Canyons is working with both entities evaluating the need and the procedures to be applied. At this time the approval for additional snowmaking has not been granted. We do not believe that it will. We believe approval for snowmaking should be a pre-requisite to granting additional water. Why? If you grant them the water and the snowmaking permit is not granted, then Snowbird would receive a windfall in the form of additional water for which it has no approved need and therefore, could be in a position to sell the water speculatively or use it for unapproved purposes. Speculation should not be permitted.
The Bonham v. Morgan decision states that the application must be rejected for either appropriation or permanent change of use or place of use if approval would interfere with more beneficial use, public recreation, the natural stream environment, or the public welfare. We and other environmentally concerned organizations are prepared to show that the subject water claim will be detrimental to all of the above, including fishery and fauna habitat, in-stream flows, water quality, riparian areas, and the quiet enjoyment of Little Cottonwood Canyon which is one of the few real places for escapes available to the hundreds of thousands of residents of the Salt Lake Valley.
We believe this application is a bald faced attempt to completely destroy -- in a single move -- what modest controls on development in the local Salt Lake Canyons that authorities at the Federal, county and city level have adopted over the years through public process. This Application for in excess of 6,000 families (4.0 cfs) and the frivolous claim obtained from Mr. Wayne Crawford for in excess of 5,000 families (3.0 cfs) worth of water could de-water Little Cottonwood Creek with a base flow of only 15.0 cfs. These claims must be rejected.
Thank you for your consideration of this protest.
Sincerely,
CITIZENS COMMITTEE TO SAVE OUR CANYONS
BY : Gale Dick
ITS : President
BY BRENT ISRAELSEN
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
Snowbird Ski Resort, planning a major expansion in the next five years, has applied for more water in Little Cottonwood Canyon, prompting outcries from environmentalists, Utah's capital city and a Western power conglomerate.
The upscale ski resort on July 15 asked the state engineer for rights to 4 cubic feet of water per second (cfs) from the Wasatch Drain Tunnel, an aging water-collection structure linking Little Cottonwood and Big Cottonwood canyons.
Snowbird's claim to that water is similar to another deal in which the ski resort acquired about 3 cfs from a developer who claims rights to `` unused'' water in the tunnel.
Snowbird attorney Larry Jenkins said the resort believes there is unappropriated water in the tunnel, which was built between 1912 and 1959, and the resort is positioning itself to claim that water for its expansion.
A diverse group of opponents is rallying against Snowbird. ``It looks like Snowbird is declaring war on Salt Lake City over water,'' said environmentalist Wes Odell.
Odell represents a coalition of citizen groups opposed to
Snowbird's plans. They include Save Our Canyons, the Audubon Society,
Trout Unlimited, the Sierra Club and the League of Women Voters.
Joining the opposition is Salt Lake City Corp., which gets a
significant portion of its water from Big Cottonwood and Little
Cottonwood canyons. Jeff Niermeyer, deputy director of the city's
Public Utilities Department, said Murray and Sandy likely will join
too. About 400,000 people depend on water from the canyons, Niermeyer
said.
Also protesting Snowbird is PacifiCorp, the Portland, Ore.-based power company that owns Utah Power, which has water in the Jordan River. A hearing on Snowbird's application likely will be scheduled for January, said regional state engineer Jim Riley.
``It's going to be a wild one before it's over,'' he said. ``Of the surface water all the way down to the [Great Salt Lake marshes], there's no new water available for appropriation.''
In a formal protest filed with the state, Salt Lake City argues rights to the Wasatch Drain Tunnel were adjudicated in the 1920s, and Snowbird has none of those rights.
``The waters intercepted and collected by the Wasatch Drain Tunnel and issuing therefrom are fully appropriated,'' said Salt Lake City's protest. ``There are no unappropriated waters in Big Cottonwood or Little Cottonwood Creek or their tributaries.''
Salt Lake City, which has hired respected water attorney Joe Novak to fight Snowbird, said the ski resort's proposed use of the water would ``adversely affect public recreation and the natural stream environment of Little Cottonwood Creek.''
Environmentalists agree.
Removing that much water would harm the creek's aquatic life, vegetation, bird life, wildlife and recreational uses that depend on water, said Penny Ciak, president of Great Salt Lake Audubon. Jenkins said Snowbird, which has won several awards for environmental protection, wants to protect the canyon. ``There would be sufficient water remaining in the stream to protect the fish and riparian environment. We have no desire to dry it up.''
During a July 16 hearing on a Holladay speculator's claim to alleged unappropriated water in the drain tunnel on the Big Cottonwood Canyon side, the speculator announced he had sold about 3 cfs of that claim to Snowbird. That deal, however, is dependent on whether the state engineer approves the claim.
Snowbird's attempts to acquire more water is to support an ambitious five-year master plan the resort announced in April. The plan calls for new ski lifts, additional snowmaking facilities and an 80,000-square-foot building on top of Hidden Peak. The building would house conference rooms, a restaurant, retail space, ski-patrol quarters, water storage and a snow-machine garage with fuel and maintenance space.
All material found on Utah OnLine is copyrighted The Salt Lake Tribune and associated news services. No material may be reproduced or reused without explicit permission from The Salt Lake Tribune.