January 6, 2025

Testing Water Banks in Utah

In 2020, a new water banking law was passed that allowed for the creation of local water banks, which are intended to reduce the uncertainty and administrative hurdles around transferring water rights between different uses. Shortly afterward, the Utah Division of Water Resources funded a 3-year project to test the new water banking law through three pilot projects in different areas of the state. Each pilot project combined technical and legal analysis with significant stakeholder collaboration efforts to understand the need for a water bank and to help establish a water bank under the new statute. A report documenting the project was recently posted online by the Utah Division of Water Resources. Beyond the three pilot projects, the report provides guidance around water marketing in Utah. Part of this guidance includes two reference tables that may be helpful to those looking to better understand some basic types of water marketing:

1. Water Marketing Methods describe various ways to connect buyer and seller in a water trade.
2. Water Transaction Types describe the different contracts and transaction structures that are often used to define the terms of a water trade.

 

WestWater was fortunate to be part of the team that completed this project, which was managed by the law firm of Clyde Snow and included HDR.