The topic of metering secondary water in rural Utah is back on the table thanks to House Bill 242 and leaders and citizens in rural Utah are joining forces to push back. In 2019, legislation was passed that required areas of Utah to meter their secondary water. While the original bill proposed metering for all of Utah, many lobbied against including agriculture based rural counties due to the extreme expense and burden it would put on farmers, ranchers, and others. Their voices were heard and wording was added to the bill so that third, fourth, fifth, and sixth class counties were not required to meter secondary water. Now, three years later, HB242 aims to rewrite the legislation to include rural Utah counties and the troops are rallying again. The Vernal Area Chamber Legislative Affairs Committee has been busy writing letters expressing their strong opposition to HB242. Not only will the cost be enormous to purchase and install meters as well as manage them going forward, once secondary water is metered it could easily be taxed. All interested in voicing their opinion can reach out to bill sponsors Representative Val Peterson and Senator Michael McKell, as well as Representatives Chew and Watkins, Senator Winterton, and other members of the legislature. Contacts and the current draft of HB242 can be found on www.le.utah.gov.
