Constitutional Amendment D

The November 2020 ballot in Utah will include Constitutional Amendment D, which asks the following question to voters:

Shall the Utah Constitution be amended to:

• rewrite a provision relating to municipal water rights and sources of water supply;
• allow a municipality to define the boundary of the municipality’s water service area and to set the terms of water service for that area;
• state that a municipality is not prevented from:
  • supplying water to water users outside the municipality’s boundary; or
  • entering into a contract to supply water outside the municipality’s water service area if the water is more than what is needed for the municipality’s water service area; and
• modify the basis upon which a municipality is allowed to exchange water rights or sources of water supply?

The constitutional amendment stems from legislative changes in 2019 and 2020 regarding municipalities providing water service outside of their municipal boundaries. The amendment clarifies that a municipality can provide water service outside of its boundaries by defining a "water service area," which may extend beyond the municipal boundaries. The amendment also explicitly allows "surplus water agreements," which have been long been used by municipalities under statutory authority to provide water outside of municipal boundaries. Municipalities will still be prohibited from selling, leasing, or disposing of its water rights and water sources, but can still exchange water rights or water sources, provided that the exchanged water rights or water sources will equally enable the municipality to meet the water needs of its designated water service area.

For more information on Constitutional Amendment D, click here or read pages 49-51 of Utah's official voter information pamphlet (available here).