2021 Utah Code
Title 73 - Water and Irrigation
Chapter 10 - Board of Water Resources - Division of Water Resources
Section 34 - Secondary water metering.

Universal Citation: UT Code § 73-10-34 (2021)
Effective 5/5/2021
73-10-34. Secondary water metering.
  • (1) As used in this section:
    • (a)
      • (i) "Commercial user" means a secondary water user that is a place of business.
      • (ii) "Commercial user" does not include a multi-family residence, an agricultural user, or a customer that falls within the industrial or institutional classification.
    • (b)
      • (i) "Industrial user" means a secondary water user that manufactures or produces materials.
      • (ii) "Industrial user" includes a manufacturing plant, an oil and gas producer, and a mining company.
    • (c)
      • (i) "Institutional user" means a secondary water user that is dedicated to public service, regardless of ownership.
      • (ii) "Institutional user" includes a school, church, hospital, park, golf course, and government facility.
    • (d)
      • (i) "Residential user" means a secondary water user in a residence.
      • (ii) "Residential user" includes a single-family or multi-family home, apartment, duplex, twin home, condominium, or planned community.
    • (e) "Secondary water" means water that is:
      • (i) not culinary or water used on land assessed under Title 59, Chapter 2, Part 5, Farmland Assessment Act; and
      • (ii) delivered to and used by an end user for the irrigation of landscaping or a garden.
    • (f) "Secondary water supplier" means an entity that supplies pressurized secondary water.
    • (g) "Small secondary water retail supplier" means an entity that:
      • (i) supplies pressurized secondary water only to the end user of the secondary water; and
      • (ii)
        • (A) is a city, town, or metro township; or
        • (B) supplies 5,000 or fewer connections.
  • (2)
    • (a) A secondary water supplier that begins design work for new service on or after April 1, 2020, to a commercial, industrial, institutional, or residential user shall meter the use of pressurized secondary water by the users receiving that new service.
    • (b) Beginning January 1, 2022, a secondary water supplier shall establish a meter installation reserve for metering installation and replacement projects.
    • (c) A secondary water supplier, including a small secondary water retail supplier, may not raise the rates charged for secondary water:
      • (i) by more than 10% in a calendar year for costs associated with metering secondary water unless the rise in rates is necessary because the secondary water supplier experiences a catastrophic failure or other similar event; or
      • (ii) unless, before raising the rates on the end user, the entity charging the end user provides a statement explaining the basis for why the needs of the secondary water supplier required an increase in rates.
    • (d)
      • (i) A secondary water supplier that provides pressurized secondary water to a commercial, industrial, institutional, or residential user shall develop a plan, or if the secondary water supplier previously filed a similar plan, update the plan for metering the use of the pressurized water.
      • (ii) The plan required by this Subsection (2)(d) shall be filed or updated with the Division of Water Resources by no later than December 31, 2025, and address the process the secondary water supplier will follow to implement metering, including:
        • (A) the costs of full metering by the secondary water supplier;
        • (B) how long it would take the secondary water supplier to complete full metering by no later than December 31, 2040, including an anticipated beginning date and completion date; and
        • (C) how the secondary water supplier will finance metering.
  • (3) A secondary water supplier shall on or before March 31 of each year, report to the Division of Water Rights:
    • (a) for commercial, industrial, institutional, and residential users whose pressurized secondary water use is metered, the number of acre feet of pressurized secondary water the secondary water supplier supplied to the commercial, industrial, institutional, and residential users during the preceding 12-month period;
    • (b) the number of secondary water meters within the secondary water supplier's service boundary;
    • (c) a description of the secondary water supplier's service boundary;
    • (d) the number of connections in each of the following categories through which the secondary water supplier supplies pressurized secondary water:
      • (i) commercial;
      • (ii) industrial;
      • (iii) institutional; and
      • (iv) residential;
    • (e) the total volume of water that the secondary water supplier receives from the secondary water supplier's sources; and
    • (f) the dates of service during the preceding 12-month period in which the secondary water supplier supplied pressurized secondary water.
  • (4)
    • (a) Beginning July 1, 2019, the Board of Water Resources may make up to $10,000,000 in low-interest loans available each year:
      • (i) from the Water Resources Conservation and Development Fund, created in Section 73-10-24; and
      • (ii) for financing the cost of secondary water metering.
    • (b) The Division of Water Resources and the Board of Water Resources shall make rules in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, establishing the criteria and process for receiving a loan described in this Subsection (4), except the rules may not include prepayment penalties.
  • (5)
    • (a) Beginning July 1, 2021, subject to appropriation, the Division of Water Resources may make matching grants each year for financing the cost of secondary water metering for a commercial, industrial, institutional, or residential user by a small secondary water retail supplier that:
      • (i) is not for new service described in Subsection (2)(a); and
      • (ii) matches the amount of the grant.
    • (b) For purposes of issuing grants under this section, the division shall prioritize the small secondary water retail suppliers that can demonstrate the greatest need or greatest inability to pay the entire cost of installing secondary water meters.
    • (c) The amount of a grant under this Subsection (5) may not:
      • (i) exceed 50% of the small secondary water retail supplier's cost of installing secondary water meters; or
      • (ii) supplant federal, state, or local money previously allocated to pay the small secondary water retail supplier's cost of installing secondary water meters.
    • (d) In accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, the Board of Water Resources shall make rules establishing:
      • (i) the procedure for applying for a grant under this Subsection (5); and
      • (ii) how a small secondary water retail supplier can establish that the small secondary water retail supplier meets the eligibility requirements of this Subsection (5).
  • (6) This section does not apply to a secondary water supplier to the extent that:
    • (a) the secondary water supplier supplies secondary water within a county of the third, fourth, fifth, or sixth class; or
    • (b) there is no meter that a meter manufacturer will warranty because of the water quality within a specific location.
  • (7) Nothing in this section affects a water right holder's obligation to measure and report water usage as described in Sections 73-5-4 and 73-5-8.


Amended by Chapter 354, 2021 General Session
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