Last year Ivins consumed 2,438 acre-feet of water. That works out to 220 gallons per person per day according to City estimates. Based on that, one acre-foot of water is enough water for four people for one year.
That total excludes Kayenta, which is serviced separately, and the farmland in Ivins which has separate water rights. I will have a more detailed analysis next week that will include these.
So, do we have access to enough water? I asked Chuck Gillette, head of the City’s Public Works Department, how much water can we reasonably expect and how much will we need. Here is the information he put together.
Our Water Supply
Ivins isn’t in a good position when it comes to water rights. We have a small amount of water rights and then agreements with St George and the Washington County Water Conservancy District (WCWCD) that provide us with most of our water. Here is the breakdown.
- Snow Canyon Compact – Provides 393 acre-feet (Ivins City Water Rights).
- Gunlock Wells Agreement – Provide 614 acre-feet of water. St George let Ivins use 820 acre-feet in 2020 which exceeds the agreement. They may at some point limit us to 614 acre-feet.
- Regional Water Supply Agreement (WCWCD) – Current pipeline capacity should provide us with at least 2,500 acre-feet of water. This is dependent on whether the WCWCD can provide it. Last year we used 1,790 acre-feet from the regional pipeline.
- Ence Wells – We have an agreement in place and facilities in place to deliver water from this source, but it is currently not being used. When we need it, it will give us another 380 acre-feet.
If you total these four sources of water, we can reasonably expect 3,900 acre-feet of annual water supply, as long as Mother Nature cooperates. Chuck noted that we should include a 20% buffer because of nature’s uncertainty, which brings our potential supply down to just over 3,100 acre-feet.
Since we used just over 2,400 acre-feet last year, we are not necessarily in a crisis yet, but we are certainly getting very close.
Existing Water Supplies versus Future Buildout Demand
The population of Ivins is expected to increase from around 10,000 people today to more than 20,000 people at full buildout. Chuck estimates we will need 5,454 acre-feet at full buildout. I believe this assumes we continue to consume water the same way we do now (no additional conservation).
Based on the 3,900 acre-feet we probably have access to, we’re about 1,600 acre-feet short. Add in the 20% buffer and we’re more than 2,500 acre-feet short. That’s a big gap.
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