Notebook #11

Truman Crapo
Joi O’Donoghue, Amy. “Utah’s water czar: 1 of the most powerful men you likely never heard
of.” Deseret.com. 11 November 2019.
https://www.deseret.com/utah/2019/11/11/20951876/utahs-water-czar-1-of-the-most-powerful-
men-you-likely-never-heard-of. 25 July 2020.

Kent Jones served in the Utah Division of Water Rights for 39 years and has recently retired. The
article goes on the talk about all that he did you Utah and that tough decisions that he had to
make in order to keep a structure in the ongoing issue of Utah’s water supply. The article also
mentions that Kent Jones focused on the allocation of water rights. He was focused on those who
have water rights and what those people or businesses were using them for. “We are making sure
no one is impacting anyone else’s dreams by taking their water supply.”, said Kent Jones. Being
a state engineer in the second driest state in the country is no small task to carry.

This viewpoint is toward allocating water rights correctly rather than drastically raising water
prices. The purpose is finding those who are chasing their dreams and have a specific purpose for
having water rights. The article says that it is important to allocate rights to those who are
purpose-driven. Many people are more concerned that because of population growth we have to
raise water prices which will then allow us more funding to get the water that we need. In
contrast, Kent Jones sees the growth in population and business startups and knows that
specifically delegated rights can improve our economy with little to no increase on the water
price. Kent Jones is the main person talking and he is a very credible source.

It is easy to see the hard work that Kent Jones has put into his time as one the state engineers at
the Utah Division of Water Rights. In my opinion, rather than delegating for those who are fit or
not it would be most beneficial to raise the water prices. The debate is looking a clearer for me
now. Everyone is in for a reform of Utah’s water laws but the way we go about it is challenged
by conflicting opinions. I need to research more of what Kent Jones did and the policies set in
place to appeal to everyone’s view or what did not appeal to people’s views. I have been
googling all my articles so I will continue to surf google for relatable articles.

Weiser, Matt. “Utah, America’s Thirstiest State, Wrestles with Unmetered Water Use”
newsdeeply.com. 5 March 2018. https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/articles/2018/03/05/utah-
americas-thirstiest-state-wrestles-with-unmetered-water-use . 25 July 2020.

Matt Weiser brings the numbers to the game. Matt Weiser reports that secondary for many cities
in Utah secondary water is not being charged. Secondary water is the water that is being used
outdoors. United States Geological Survey did a study in 2010 about the American water
consumption and it was reported that Utah consumes a daily average of about 167 gallons per
person. Later that year, Utah Division of Water Resources did a study which reported at 187
gallons per person per day. Which is about 10 percent higher than what the United States
reported. Utah is needs to conserve and we are doing the opposite.

This article takes the side of raising water prices in order to slow the use of the water supply. The
article continues to talk about the cities that have implemented the charge for secondary water
use. Saratoga Springs for example just spent 3.5 million dollars for about 4,000 secondary water
meters and its usage has gone down drastically. The audience are those people that want to know
Notebook #11
Truman Crapo
more about the upcoming charge when they water their lawn or wash their car. Utah for most of
its statehood has not charged for secondary water.
It is interesting to see these new changes to how each city or division is implementing their way
of water supply control. Again, it is less of a debate, but rather a time to decide which is better
then follow through. At any rate, I am still a part of the force to raise the charge for water prices
and where it is available to charge for secondary water usage. This article with all its statistics
helped me more understand that each person’s daily water usage is a lot higher than other states.
For a state that only average about 88 days of precipitation per year, we are using much more
than we are receiving.

Deseret News. “Saratoga Springs receives award for decreasing water usage nearly 30 percent”.
deseret.com.14 March 2018. https://www.deseret.com/2018/3/14/20641661/saratoga-springs-
receives-award-for-decreasing-water-usage-nearly-30 . 25 July 2020.

This article is a follow up because I thought that knowing the repercussions of Saratoga Springs
implementing the charge of secondary water was important. The author is not listed but this is
written by Deseret News. Deseret News reports the award given to Saratoga Springs for
decreasing their secondary water usage. In the first year the usage decreased by 21 percent and
the average customer has decreased by 27 percent.

This article supports the side for raising water prices in order to increase the longevity of Utah’s
water supply. The audience are for people who want to see the upside for increasing the water
prices. Charging more for water will help us be more cautious while using secondary water
supplies. This article is for those who have yet to decide which side they support so they are
reading this to see the benefits to this process.

I think that when people see that one city is doing great things for the economy in their city it
promotes economic health other places. I like the article because it is motivational for other
citizens. My questions are whether or not other cities have looked into also incorporating
charging secondary water usage.

Edwards, Mike. “My view: Utah needs to update its water laws” deseret.com. 30 December
2016. https://www.deseret.com/2016/12/30/20603170/my-view-utah-needs-to-update-its-water-
laws . 25 July 2020.

Mike Edwards wrote one of the pioneer articles to fuel the reformation of the Utah’s water laws.
This article was really interesting because it is the oldest out of the articles. In contrast to the
others, this one has the all over support for the changing the process. It is the inspiration for what
has transcribed in the last four years.

This source represents the resounding call for a reformation of the water laws. This article talks
about how the watersheds in Utah are being lessened each year. In 2016 the people are looking
for what all the talk is about the water laws. Due to the watershed laws Utah has seen a massive
increase in population and since then there has been a huge push for updating the water laws.

I like this article for the reason that it really pushes the whole movement forward.
Notebook #11
Truman Crapo

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