Rural Water Association of Utah Water Rights Certification Gary Brimley April 10, 2014

Overview Water Use Reports = required (most systems) What’s in a water use report Where’s the data Why report How to report Examples

Water Use Reporting Reporting is mandatory: – If required by Order of the State Engineer (73-5-8) or – For community water systems (Division of Drinking Water – Utah Administrative Rule R ) or – To obtain loans from Board of Water Resources

Community Water Systems For Division of Drinking Water Purposes, "Community Water System" (CWS) means a public water system which serves at least 15 service connections used by year-round residents or regularly serves at least 25 year-round residents (UAC ) – (Differentiate this with Water Right law ) CWS as defined by DDW must report status of projects, system demands, problems, projects (Division of Water Rights cooperates with DDW)

Order of the State Engineer The State Engineer generally requires water use reports when use is non-conforming with established diversion duties (for example, uses other than irrigation, domestic, and livestock) It is standard practice for the State Engineer to include Water Use Reporting as a condition of approval on public water supplier applications – Even if Reporting is not included as a condition of approval on an OSE, it is mandatory for all CWS

Contents of the Report Storage Inventory (e.g. tanks) Annual Breakdown of Water Use (e.g. residential, industrial, wholesale transfers out) Monthly Breakdown of Source Supply (e.g. springs, wells, wholesale transfers in) Secondary (Irrigation) System Information Financial Information Condition of System and Firefighting Capacity Anticipated Projects

When is the water use data collected?  In January, an online survey logon ID and password are ed, or a paper form is mailed.  The survey is asking for the monthly breakdown of water usage for the previous year.  Survey is due by March 1 st.  A postcard reminder is mailed.  A late letter is mailed (if needed).

Where is the data?

The Report Data is Used For… Summarizing water usage in geographic areas Showing which individual sources are in use Proof of beneficial use for water rights Division of Drinking Water purposes Division of Water Resources purposes USGS studies, assessing water supply Preparation of basin water plans

How the Data is Collected Water systems keep monthly data The data is turned in in January via one of two options: online or by paper (mail) – An online logon ID and password are ed – Or a paper form is mailed

Metering Each source (e.g. spring, well) needs metering – This is the supply side Metering of most customers is typical – This is the demand end – Metering each customer is not required But unmetered water service must be estimated

Electronic Reporting This method does not result in a paper record. The reporting data is stored and permanently archived only electronically. – When you click “Send Permanent Record,” the system s the Water Use Reporting specialist (Dana Dredge) saying the data has been entered

Typical System Sources – (Not a comprehensive list) Streams Springs Wells Reservoir Drain Transfer in (wholesale, imported, purchased)

Online Report System Interface Your Login ID and Key are in the ! Watch the water units (i.e. right now the only options are acre-feet, barrels, gallons, thousands, and millions of gallons). – Hundreds of gallons is not currently an option. Does that need to change? Comment boxes are there for a reason Estimate carefully when necessary

Paper Form (by mail)

To be sure… When entering data, watch the units! – Logging data through the year, watch the units! (Systems report monthly data once a year – in January) Estimate, when it’s impossible to read a meter Make use of the little comment boxes to explain (open and good communication)! Do give feedback via to our Water Use Reporting program specialist, Dana Dredge. Then we’ll try to improve the system.

Contact the Report Program Specialist If you have a problem identifying your sources or correlating them with what is provided on the report form If some of your system sources are missing If you’re not sure what is meant by some of the requested report items If you have feedback – we really would like to improve the form and the program