Adoption of Parowan Valley Groundwater Management Plan

The Utah Division of Water Rights has issued notice of its intent to adopt a groundwater management for Parowan Valley in Iron County. The groundwater management plan will be adopted in 60 days from the date of the notice (August 6, 2024). A copy of the notice is available by clicking here.

The Division has been working on the groundwater management plan for many years. A copy of the proposed groundwater management plan can be viewed by clicking here. The plan notes that safe groundwater yield in the area is 22,000 acre-feet, but current groundwater withdrawals/depletions are nearly 33,000 acre-feet -- which is unsustainable. In order to bring the system back in harmony, water rights are going to be permanently "phased out" over the next several decades, starting in 2043. By the year 2080, all water rights with priority dates later than December 5, 1951 will be gone and the system will (hopefully) be brought into balance.

For more information, click here.