PRODUCTION REQUIREMENTS
The State of Utah Division of Drinking Water recently conducted an analysis of the City's water usage of the past 3 years. The result of this analysis was a System-Specific Minimum Sizing letter that sets source requirements for average annual demand, peak day source demand and storage sizing as follows:
• Average Annual Demand = 237,250 gallons per ERC
• Peak Day Source Demand = 1,764 gallons per day per ERC
• Minimum Equalization Storage = 650 gallons per ERC
These sizing standards have been used for this analysis. The State will review the City's water usage and adjust these requirements every few years. These updates will take into account actual water usage which may be affected by conservation efforts, drought, or other factors. It should be noted that the production requirements of the State include a "variability factor" above and beyond actual historical use. This helps assure that water supply is available regardless of the variability of actual demand.
Production requirements have been compared to source availability to determine if City supplies are adequate to meet existing and future demands. The results of this analysis are summarized in a series of table below. Included in the tables is the following information:
• Projected future demands
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. It will be noted that this is not a single value for any given year, but a range. As has been seen in the historical data, demand can vary significantly from year to year depending on weather conditions and other factors. The range shown incorporates the maximum and minimum per ERC water use in the historic record.
• Source sizing requirement based on the State of Utah minimum requirement.
• Source capacity. The City has two main sources of water: City-owned wells and water purchased from the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District. These sources provide the City with 26,500 acre-ft/year of supply at a peak production rate of about 78 million gallons per day.
Results are summarized in Tables ES-2 through ES-5. Table ES-2 shows the projected annual demand and Table ES-3 shows the projected peak day demand through 2060. Table ES-4 shows the projected annual peak day supply compared with demand through 2060 and Table ES-5 shows the same comparison for peak day.
Year | Projected Water Demand (Acre-Ft/Yr) | State Sizing Requirement (Acre-Ft/Yr) | |
Low Estimate | High Estimate |
Year | Projected Water Demand (Acre-Ft/Yr) | State Sizing Requirement (Acre-Ft/Yr) | |
Low Estimate | High Estimate | ||
2021 | 21,600 | 25,600 | 29,000 |
2026 | 24,300 | 28,300 | 32,200 |
2031 | 27,000 | 31,000 | 35,500 |
2041 | 29,600 | 33,600 | 38,600 |
2051 | 30,900 | 34,900 | 40,300 |
2060 | 31,200 | 35,200 | 40,700 |
Year | Projected Water Demand (MGD) | State Sizing Requirement (MGD) | |
Low Estimate | High Estimate |
Year | Projected Water Demand (MGD) | State Sizing Requirement (MGD) | |
Low Estimate | High Estimate | ||
2021 | 41 | 59 | 75 |
2026 | 47 | 65 | 82 |
2031 | 54 | 72 | 90 |
2041 | 60 | 78 | 98 |
2051 | 63 | 81 | 102 |
2060 | 63 | 81 | 102 |
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It should be noted that both projected demands and the State sizing requirement have been projected assuming that the City can successfully achieve the State of Utah Regional Conservation goal. This includes a reduction in per capita water use from 198 gallons per day (gpd) in 2020 to 183 gpd in 2030 and to 166 gpd in 2065.
Year | JVWCD Contract (Acre-Ft/Yr) | JVWCD Contract - Extra 20% (Acre-Ft/Yr) | Well Production (Acre-Ft/Yr) | State Sizing Requirement (Acre-Ft/Yr) | Surplus / (Deficit) (Acre-Ft/Yr) |
2021 | 20,000 | 4,000 | 2,500 | 30,800 | (4,300) |
2026 | 34,000 | (7,500) | |||
2031 | 37,200 | (10,700) | |||
2041 | 40,300 | (13,800) | |||
2051 | 41,900 | (15,400) | |||
2060 | 42,300 | (15,800) |
Year | JVWCD Contract (MGD) | Well Production (MGD) | State Sizing Requirement (MGD) | Surplus / (Deficit) (MGD) |
2021 | 70.5 | 7.1 | 74.6 | 3.0 |
2026 | 82.3 | (4.7) | ||
2031 | 90.2 | (12.6) | ||
2041 | 97.7 | (20.1) | ||
2051 | 101.6 | (24.0) | ||
2060 | 102.4 | (24.8) |
As can be seen in Tables, the City has enough annual supply to satisfy projected demands for the next few years. However, it does not have enough redundant supply to meet the State sizing standard with its current variability factor. It is recommended that the City explore options for gradually increasing its annual supply. At a minimum, the City will need to have access to additional supply no later than 2024 when its projected demand will exceed available supply, even without the recommended redundancy factor. There are a couple options to consider for future source capacity as demand increases. This includes increasing the City's JVWCD contract, moving large outdoor watering locations to secondary water, increasing conservation efforts, or increasing well capacity. Increasing well capacity may be limited due to groundwater quality and availability concerns.
Source capacity looks a little better as shown in Table ES-5. Even with the current variability factor, the City has adequate production capacity to meet needs through at least 2025. When compared to actual demands, existing sources are expected to be adequate to meet demands through 2045. Since peak demands have been trending downward in recent years, it is recommended that the City wait on developing additional peak day capacity as it monitors demand trends over the next few years. If the City continues its current trend, it may not be necessary to add peak day capacity for several decades.