SV continues to consider water IGA with Payson

Water Commission delays recommendation

By Matt Brabb
Mogollon Connection Editor

Community leaders from the Town of Star Valley continued to mull over a potential Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the Town of Payson regarding water rights at its regular water and sewer commission meeting on Thursday.

Payson passed its version of the IGA over a month ago, which essentially amounted to three proposals. It is willing to sell Star Valley three wells it has rights to within the town limits of Star Valley. It will limit pumping on the Tower Well to 855 acre-feet per year, which is the present limitation on the well based on safe yield projections. And it agrees to be an emergency water provider for Star Valley in the event of a crisis.

Critics have voiced concern over the lack of any language in the agreement regarding Star Valley’s attempt to become a water purveyor. Before the town can secure rights to a portion of the 500 acre-feet of water from the C.C. Cragin Pipeline, which has been set aside for communities neighboring Payson, the town must meet that stipulation.

Some community members had also hoped to see a delivery mechanism for water moving from the Cragin water treatment plant to Star Valley to be included in the IGA. This would most likely be the Tower Well pipeline, which could be used to flow water back into Star Valley, rather than out.

At the onset of the discussion Commission Member Bill Davis remarked, “I am encouraged by the process. They have their goals and we have ours, but it is time to sit down with them and find solutions that serve both communities.”

He added however, that he had issues with a section of the proposal that would limit how much Star Valley could pump from the wells Payson was offering to sell them.

“It seems odd that one town could set those kinds of limitations on another town,” he said.

Star Valley Council Member and Water and Sewer Commissioner Vern Leis said that he had hoped to have a final legal analysis from the attorney who was looking over the proposed IGA for the town, but that unfortunately she was only about 85 percent through with that process.

He had however gotten clarification from SRP about what the town needed to do to become a water purveyor, and therefore qualify for Cragin water.

He explained that the town would need to own at least one well, because Cragin water would only be available for up to 10 months a year. The town would need a well to supply water during the down time, or in the event of a break in the pipeline resulting in interrupted service.

Speaking to the lack of language in the IGA regarding a delivery method for Cragin water from Payson to Star Valley, he said, “An agreement like that won’t be a part of the first agreement we make with Payson.”

“Based on what we know right now, we don’t know what kind of capabilities we will need. That is the second or third step after this one. First we will need to sit down with SRP and determine our allotment (of Cragin water) before we can sit down with Payson.”

Star Valley Council Member Gary Coon was in attendance and spoke a word of caution.

“It could still be a problem," he said. "We’re assuming that things will turn out in our favor. We’re committing ourselves to at least $100,000, and probably more like $1 million without knowing that we have a way to get the water here,” he said.

“We’ll eventually have to have a lot of hook-ups in this town to pay for that,” he added.

“We have to start with something to at least open the door,” responded Leis.

Coon was unconvinced. He pointed out that Brooke Utilities had the right to supply water to most of the customers in the town, and that two of the three wells that Payson was offering to sell to Star Valley were within Brooke’s jurisdiction. That fact could greatly complicate the town’s attempt to ever use them.

But Leis countered that the town wouldn’t necessarily have to rely on a great number of hook-ups to generate revenue for the town. He cited two possible examples of customers of Star Valley water including the Chaparral Pines Golf Course. He added that Star Valley could even potentially sell the water back to Payson.

“Could we have a $1 million cost exposure? Yes we could,” said Leis. “But this water is for future use.”

But Coon wasn’t finished.

“We have to have customers, and to do that we have to buy out Brooke, and we can’t afford that,” he said.

“We can’t do anything until we take the first step, but we’re not going to do a Strawberry/Pine and rush into anything,” replied Leis before ending the discussion.

There appeared to be broad support for the IGA when the Star Valley Council discussed it during its last regular meeting. In some form or another, an agreement will most likely be reached. Members of the water and sewer commission vowed to revisit the matter after an analysis by the town’s water attorney is complete, and will make their recommendation to the council at a later date.

“Additional time will be required for us to do our due diligence,” said Commission Member Davis.