Water Rights

“The wars of the twenty-first century will be fought over water.”
Ismail Serageldin
World Bank V.P. of Environmental Affairs quoted in Marq de Villiers’ Water 2000

More information on water rights in Utah

August 2003
U.S. Water News Online

SALT LAKE CITY -- Parts of Utah have more water rights than water, which has allowed pumping to exceed the natural recharging of aquifers and could force curbs on water rights, the state engineer says.

In a speech to the Utah Farm Bureau Federation, state Engineer Jerry Olds said areas that will likely be hardest hit include Salt Lake, Davis and western Iron counties along with the Milford area in Beaver County.

Much of the overallocation of water rights occurred during the late 1940s and early 1950s as Utah developed much of its current water resources. Officials had limited aquifer data at that time, Olds said.

``They overshot in some cases,'' Olds said. He said the state now has a better handle on how much water is actually left in Utah's aquifers.

Determining how best to administer existing water rights based on the overallocations likely means changes in water law, including reallocating some rights.

Water rights in Utah Legislation