Troubled Waters

Matt Marten, Kayenta Development Inc.

A consequential reservoir project is in the planning process but little detail is known

For almost three years, the proposed Dry Wash Reservoir project has been slowly moving forward, slated for an area of Ivins City and within the Kayenta planning area.  Construction details, management, costs, and public safety are still raising questions.

Dry Wash

Dry Wash is a naturally pristine area in the Ivins City boundary that was owned by State Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA).  The wash extends from Kwavasa Drive (at the dip in the road) down to Highway 91.  It is an area that was planned as a natural open space for public enjoyment.  This vision goes back to 1978 and is included in the Kayenta policy declaration as a part of the annexation by William Carma Associates (the original partners in Kayenta) with the Town of Ivins.  By 1994 a general plan for the Kayenta area in Ivins established the vision for Dry Wash as a “Proposed Pristine Natural Park “.  For several decades, the developers of Kayenta planned to purchase Dry Wash to expand the community’s footprint.  Chiefly, Terry Marten was the driving force behind this effort.  Since 1994, he has developed a long-standing relationship with SITLA with an eye toward this goal.    

By 2017, Marten started the process of finalizing the purchase of state-owned land adjacent to Kayenta.  In 2021 he had closed on most of the state parcels excluding the Dry Wash site.  The Dry Wash was to be the final sale completing the vision.

The purchase of land from SITLA was a five-year process.  Terry Marten had secured all the real estate that was developable, adding it to the Kayenta footprint.  The balance of the land (Dry Wash) was land that would not be developed.  Dry wash is comprised of floodplain, steep slopes, and rock formations.  SITLA had agreed to sell the land to Marten with the understanding it would be conveyed to Ivins City or another entity to provide a pristine natural park.  By March 2021, the land sale had been approved by the trust and closing documents were being prepared.

Within a matter of five days, Terry Marten received word that Washington County Water Conservancy District (WCWCD) had contracted with the state blocking the sale.  After little interest in the project for 17 years, WCWCD announced its intention to build a reuse waste-water storage reservoir in Dry Wash.

Early in the talks, Marten negotiated with WCWCD to mitigate the impact on the reservoir project stating: “I am against the reservoir but if it is good for Ivins, I would reluctantly acquiesce.

Negotiations continued and it was determined by Marten and WCWCD that the reservoir had been tentatively planned for a 1,200-acre feet reservoir.  This size was based on a two-decades-old Environmental Assessment that was about to expire.

In November 2021, the WCWCD agreed to submit are agreed-upon plan to the city.   With scant details about the reservoir, the Ivins City Council voted affirmatively a resolution that allow the WCWCD to explore the development of an even larger reservoir.  The larger reservoir would be a minimum of 1,500-acre feet or greater.  This was not what had been represented to Terry Marten and was in conflict with the Environmental Assessments recommendation.

Marten and others have brought up concerns surrounding the location, which include cost, management, safety, health, and nuisances.  More than two years later, none of these concerns have been appropriately addressed in detail.

Statement from Kayenta Development Inc. opposing the Dry Wash Reservoir:

Forty-eight years ago, the vision for Kayenta was established in the southwest corner of Washington County, Utah.  Before the Kayenta community could become a reality, a water supply had to be sourced and secured.  By 1978, the Ence Wells were developed tapping into the Santa Clara aquifer.  The security of this water lease assured Kayenta could move forward.

Kayenta was founded knowing the importance of water availability and conservation.   One of the basic tenets of the development concept for Kayenta is to be respectful of water as a precious resource.  Out of necessity, Kayenta embraced a water-wise concept as one of its core values.

Preservation of the natural landscape and water-wise desert landscaping are basic agreements we live by in the Kayenta Community and are values shared by many Ivins residents. Kayenta Development Inc.’s mission is to maintain and develop the values and covenants of Kayenta.

Kayenta Development Inc. opposes a reservoir in Dry Wash because it is in direct conflict with our mission and the community plan and covenant.   On the surface, it would seem a reservoir to conserve, and reuse water would be consistent with our values, and it is.  As we consider the details of a reservoir in Dry Wash, concerning questions rise to the surface.  We fundamentally object to the reservoir due to its location and proposed methods of use.   With its location in the middle of the Kayenta planning area, Dry Wash is an irreplaceable natural open space for Kayenta, Ivins residents, and the public.  We believe Dry Wash should be preserved as a natural feature that provides open space accessible to everyone.  For decades, Dry Wash has been earmarked to be a pristine natural park.

The Dry Wash Reservoir is planned to store treated sewer water to be reused for water parks, golf courses, and agricultural crops.  The water level of the reservoir would rise and fall with seasonal need.  The reservoir would not be for public recreation, nor would it be an environmental asset.  While the proposed reservoir might temporarily reduce demand on culinary water for irrigation it provides no benefit to Kayenta and may have little tangible value to Ivins given the tradeoffs.

The proposed Dry Wash Reservoir undermines decades of planning, land acquisitions, and agreements.  It threatens sensitive land, natural habitat, open-space transportation planning/connectivity, public health /safety, and the existing Santa Clara aquifer freshwater wells.   The visual impact is also in conflict with the reason many residents have chosen to live and invest in Ivins.  It compromises the natural beauty and wild nature of the area.

To date, the myriad unresolved questions surrounding the proposed reservoir have effectively stopped planning in the southeast portion of Kayenta.  From a development business standpoint, this is devastating to decades of agreements and planning efforts.  It creates an unstable dynamic that diverts energy and focus away from other pressing planning issues.   While investment, obligations, and profit are the core of every company and organization, Kayenta Development Inc.’s mission is to build the Kayenta Community based on its fundamental vision of living in balance with nature.

For decades it has been known that southern Utah would need more water to grow.  Fast-paced growth in areas of Washington County has fueled the need to expand water conservation efforts and seek alternative water sources such as reuse.  It is not our intention to obstruct water planning and conservation efforts.  We welcome collaboration and meaningful conversations that contribute to knowledge and effort to secure water for the future of Washington County, Ivins, and Kayenta.

Watch Ivins City for public hearings

Contact Ivins City Council with your concerns

Attend Talk About hosted by Mayor Hart

WHEN

Wednesday, February 21st at 7 pm
at Rocky Vista University for a Water Talkabout.
It’s an opportunity to ask Zach Renstrom,
head of the WCWCD, your questions.

Photos below were taken from the Dry Wash area.

January 2024 Ivins City Council Update

Mike Scott, Council Member

Is The Reservoir Plan All Wet?

The Washington County Water Conservation District (WCWCD) plans to create Dry Wash Reservoir in Ivins between Kwavasa and Hwy 91. Currently, they think they will start construction this year.

How does this reservoir plan fit with our community vision? What will we put in the reservoir? How clean is that water? Who will use the water? Will the reservoir become a new playground? What can we do about blowing dust every summer and fall as the reservoir level drops? What about problems created by gnats and no-see-ums? And tamarisks? What about costs? Do we really need this reservoir? Is it a done deal?

Please join me on Wednesday, February 21st at 7 pm
at Rocky Vista University for a Water Talkabout.
It’s an opportunity to ask Zach Renstrom,
head of the WCWCD, these and other questions.

Wants & Needs

Dry Wash is a naturally pristine area in Ivins. More than 45 years ago William Carma & Associates, the original developer of Kayenta, planned for the wash and surrounding area to remain a natural open space for public enjoyment. Terry Marten has consistently continued that vision since then.

The Ivins General Plan acknowledges the importance of the washes in Ivins, including Dry Wash, saying they are “important as visual open space, wildlife habitat area and recreation corridors.” In last year’s General Plan Survey, 81% of the respondents made it clear that open space is important to them.

Unfortunately, neither developer owned the land, although not for lack of trying. And the City doesn’t own the land. It’s in the hands of the Washington County Water Conservancy District. Woulda, coulda, shoulda isn’t helpful at this point.

The open space vision is beautiful. I can’t imagine there is anyone who wouldn’t want that. But life is messy. We must continually balance needs and wants. Needs are necessary for life. Wants improve life.

We want open space. We need water. WCWCDs 20-year plan published earlier this year finally dropped the expectation of water from Lake Powell, at least for the next 20 years, and replaced it with more aggressive expectations for conservation benefits and secondary water. Both the draft Ivins Water Conservation Plan and WCWCDs 20-year plan show we don’t have enough water to meet our needs without secondary water.

Ready For Beach Blanket Bingo?

Ivins residents are concerned about a reservoir becoming a nuisance from crowds of people, from who knows where, descending on it for recreation. Residents don’t want this reservoir to become another destination fun park, like Fire Lake Park. Think summer teen beach movies.

Fortunately (and unfortunately) Ivins City, not WCWCD, will oversee the management of the land around the reservoir. The city council already indicated it won’t be used for recreation, beyond perhaps hiking and fishing, as the City Council resolution in 2021 stated. But just because the city said that in a resolution doesn’t make it happen. We need a bulletproof management plan.

The Problem, My Friend, Is Blowin’ in the Wind

Another problem is dust and sand blowing from the reservoir. Nothing is finalized yet, but Wayne Pennington, an Ivins resident who is a geophysicist and a former Dean of Engineering calculates that the reservoir would shrink from 67 acres when full in the spring to just 20 acres each fall. That leaves 47 acres of exposed, dry reservoir bed.

Winds from the west and north will blow dust and sand from that bed across Ivins. That dust may contain material that remains in solution through the treatment plant, such as some chemicals from pharmaceuticals or other products.

To put the numbers in perspective, Wayne pointed out that 47 acres is almost 30% larger than the existing Ivins Reservoir at Fire Lake Park. He also calculated that it is roughly equivalent to several city blocks, such as 200W to 200E and Center St to past 100N.

To help minimize the blowing sand and dust problem, WCWCD is looking at adding gravel along the shore and excavating some shallow areas of the reservoir so less area will be exposed. Will that eliminate the problem? We need to get involved as a city and come up with the best possible solution to this problem. Because once the reservoir is built, it will be the city’s problem.

This Is Gnat Desirable
…or Yes You Can Have Too Much Protein

And then there are mosquitoes and gnats, problems the city will have to deal with. There’s already an effective program in place to deal with mosquitos, through the Southwest Mosquito Abatement & Control District (SMACD). The District treats mosquitoes at the Ivins Reservoir and throughout the county.

Sean Amodt, SMACDs Administrator, told me he has been working with WCWCD on the plans for the reservoir to make sure that it doesn’t create additional problems. In 2024 his team will trap in the area around the proposed reservoir to better understand what is out there. He also said the Shivwits Band of Paiutes is also starting a program that will help control that area.

Gnats, including no-see-ums (a type of gnat), are more troublesome. I contacted some residents who live close to the Ivins Reservoir to find out how bad the gnat problem is. They all told me it’s bad.

Here’s what one resident said: “The gnats are awful from late spring through late fall. We cannot sit outside, especially in the evenings, unless there’s a pretty strong breeze. They form in tall swarms that can be several feet tall. When you look from our house to the reservoir over the sagebrush all you see is this wall of swirling flying gnats. There’s no way to open windows in the evening because they fit through any screen.”

Sean told me that “gnats develop in soil at the base of trees, not water, but they like moisture. Chuck Warren, president of Desert Preservation Initiative, told me that if tamarisk isn’t removed completely from the area around the reservoir, this invasive tree will take over the shoreline.

An invasion of tamarisk will make the gnats happy. Chuck added that this isn’t a one-time effort. Tamarisk is more persistent. A long-term management plan is important to prevent tamarisk from getting out of control.

After emerging as adults, they will fly miles for a blood meal if needed. With the moist soil this past year from the snowpack, gnats were in abundance. They would be attracted to the moist environment of the reservoir, but they don’t need it for development.”

He goes on to say that “the only effective treatment would be a nightly adulticide treatment. It would be effective, for each night, but would have to be reapplied each night. This would be expensive for product and manpower. Also, treating the ground around the area would be just as costly. There really isn’t a good solution for gnats other than a good repellent.”

Annoying as they are, biting gnats are an essential part of the web of life in Southwest Utah. Birds, bats, fish, lizards, and other insects depend on gnats as a food source.

Do We Have a Choice?

Can we simply say no to the reservoir? In December 2021 our city council passed a resolution for WCWCD to “take all steps necessary to acquire all land necessary to construct the negotiated sized Dry Wash Reservoir…”

In addition to that, the Water Conservancy District Act (Utah Code 17B-2a-1001) gives WCWCD a lot of powers, and even more powers as a “special district” (Utah Code 17B-1-103), which, under state code, is a type of “limited purpose local government entity.”

So, what does that mean? Special districts have the authority to exercise eminent domain to take land for their needs. But Jordan Cullimore, the Lead Attorney at the State’s Office of the Property Rights Ombudsman, told me, “They must follow a municipality’s land use regulations. That means WCWCD needs to go through the same approval process as any other landowner would.”

He went on to tell me that if the zoning doesn’t allow for reservoirs in the zone in which the land is located, “the district would need to petition the city to change the zoning to allow it, and the city could say no to the request if the city determines such zoning isn’t needed or doesn’t benefit the public.” Both the current land use and zoning for the reservoir area are low-density residential. That use does not allow a reservoir.

The only land use in Ivins that allows a reservoir is “Park” which is the land use at Fire Lake Park. Given the concern about the reservoir turning into a recreational magnet, “Park” doesn’t seem like the right land use to use. For a reservoir to happen, we either need to create a new land use and zone to accommodate a reservoir or designate a reservoir as a conditional use in a zone we already have, like Commercial with Light Manufacturing (CLM).

By making a reservoir a conditional use, WCWCD would need to go through the Conditional Use Permit approval process to get a permit. Mr. Cullimore points out that, “In that case, the city may only deny a Conditional Use Permit if the city, in light of standards outlined in the city code, identifies reasonably anticipated detrimental effects associated with the use, and makes a finding, supported by evidence and on the record, that there is no way to mitigate the detrimental effects with reasonable conditions.”

Is it possible to show convincingly that the reservoir is not needed or doesn’t provide a public benefit? I don’t think so. I don’t mean to be fatalistic. I just want to be sure we’ve done our homework and found solutions to the problems the reservoir will create.

I think some of the problems can be mitigated if WCWCD follows Wayne Pennington’s recommendations. Can the other problems I’ve brought up and problems I haven’t thought about be mitigated? We won’t know that until we take time to work on them and identify solutions. I believe we need to do that now, before it’s too late. February 21st is a good time to start.

More City Information

I try to keep these articles relatively concise. Not doing too well at that. It’s frustrating because there’s so much to discuss. So, please email me at Mike@MikeScott4Ivins.com for more information about these and other Ivins issues. Also, please tell me what issues in Ivins matter to you. Visit my website at www.MikeScott4Ivins.com for regular updates and now you can also add your comments to my articles.

VIRTUAL DINNER PARTY #92
CARROT MISO SOUP

A simmering pot of this creamy carrot soup brimming with fresh vegetable flavor and umami-rich miso is guaranteed to brighten up even the dreariest February day. The comforting brilliant orange liquid is practically sunshine in a bowl. Better still, it’s a one pot concoction that comes together in minutes and requires minimal prep and clean up. The ingredient list starts with the classic flavor combination of sweet carrots and peppery ginger, but builds on it by adding the unexpected earthy complexity of white miso. So, if you’re like me and you find yourself yearning for spring while staring at overcast skies, this carrot soup might be exactly the mood elevator you need.

The ingredient list is made up of staples – you probably have most of them in your cupboard already – except for the miso. If you’re unfamiliar with it, miso is an East Asian condiment made from fermented soybeans combined with koji, a type of cultivated fungus that grows on rice and other grains. It is a strangely delicious and useful ingredient to have in your pantry. It comes in a range of colors, white to dark red, which vary in intensity and saltiness. Miso packs a wallop of salty-sweet-umami that amps up the richness and depth of anything it touches. It can be stirred into soups, sauces, salad dressing, dips or almost anything you want to make taste more intriguing or complex. If you don’t already have it, I encourage you to pick some up the next time you are at the market (Harmon’s carries it in the dairy case) and start experimenting!  But if you can’t find it, a few tablespoons of soy sauce or tamari will lend a mild but similarly salty/savory flavor profile to the dish.

To pair with this dish, Tim and Judy recommend a light, acidic white wine such as a Sauvignon Blanc or Chenin Blanc, or even a dry Riesling.  Tim says, “The effect of umami in food on wine is to increase the perception of bitterness and astringency while decreasing the perception of body, sweetness and fruitiness of the wine. Those effects can be balanced somewhat by the saltiness of the dish.” He recommends avoiding most red wines, especially those with low tannins such as Pinot Noir or Beaujolais. And if you’re carrying dry January into February, a slightly acidic pineapple ginger spritz would be a nice zero-proof option. To make it, combine 3 oz pineapple juice, a squeeze of fresh lime juice and ½ t cider vinegar in a tall glass and mix well. Add ice to the glass and top off with ginger beer. Stir gently and serve.

If you have not joined the Virtual Dinner Party but would like to dine with us, please prepare this recipe – or any other – and share it with your family, friends and neighbors. It is our group’s firm belief that by preparing something good to eat and sharing it with those we love, we are participating in one of life’s greatest joys. The connection, community and good will that come from it fill us with joy, hope and gratitude.   I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.

Thanks for coming to the party. Cook On!  – Victoria