ST. GEORGE — After 16 years, nearly 2,500 completed projects and over $300 million in funding, the partnership program heading restoration and conservation of Utah’s watersheds is well on its way to formal adoption within state law.
The Watershed Restoration Initiative bill, officially designated HB 131 in the 2022 Utah Legislature, would fold in the existing program of the same name – one that is currently funded and organized piecemeal with contributions from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, the Bureau of Land Management, nonprofit organizations, private landowners and more.
Projects undertaken by initiative partners span the entire state, addressing everything from pond and riverside enhancements to wildfire rehabilitation and vegetation management.
In the past year, the program has been involved in efforts to remove invasive plants along the Virgin and Beaver rivers and to reseed habitat in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, to name just a few local projects.
“Even though it’s doing all that good in our state and has such a big budget, it’s not defined or protected in our state code in any way,” said Rep. Gay Lynn Bennion, the bill’s chief sponsor. “It’s not recognized, so this bill officially creates the Watershed Restoration Initiative within the Department of Natural Resources, and it sets the policies and objectives of the initiative.”
Under the proposed legislation, the initiative would continue to coordinate projects proposed by public and private entities. Improving watershed health, restoring water quality and yield, increasing biological diversity and finding opportunities for sustainable use of natural resources would be the goals of the newly enshrined initiative.
The bill outlines the organization of the program within the department of natural resources, offering instructions on the selection of a director and outlining funding and reporting requirements, Bennion said.
After being introduced in the Utah House of Representatives, the bill was referred to the House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee. There Bennion described the bill in greater detail alongside Watershed Program Director Tyler Thompson, who currently oversees the initiative.
Rep. Rex Shipp of Cedar City, who sits on the natural resources committee, said he supported the bill because of the growing need for water, both in the Southern Utah region and statewide.
“When we met as a Republican caucus in the interim to discuss what our priorities would be, water was at the top of the list,” Shipp said. “This drought has got everybody concerned about water all over the state. Iron County actually was the fastest growing county in the state last year, so we need to find water and conserve what we do have and use it the best we can.”
At the committee hearing, several initiative partners shared their support for the continuation and possible expansion of the watershed restoration program. Representatives with Trout Unlimited, Summit County, the Jordan River Commission and private citizens voiced their support for the bill.
Jessica Kirby, public lands manager for Summit County, said she approached Bennion during the bill’s drafting process to ask if the state could also establish a special revenue fund within the initiative for partners to contribute to. She said that her county hoped to commit grant funding from the U.S. Forest Service to the new fund outlined in the bill to facilitate more long-term restoration efforts.
“Creating this fund allows our county – and others at this point who want to follow our lead and take our pilot program into their own – to do so,” Kirby said. “Having that consistent funding approach allows us to do long term treatments on these projects because they are not ‘one and done’ most of the time.”
According to the fiscal note submitted with the bill, the sponsors expect $1.5 million to be donated to the revenue fund in 2023 and another $10 million donated in 2024. Bennion said these figures are based on the promised contributions from Summit County, but that more money may be received if other counties choose to get involved.
“Any county or entity that wanted to use this fund, could use it and the money they would give would be held by the Watershed Restoration Initiative,” Bennion said. “It could grow and then when it was the appropriate time of year, they could do the project. It would only be done where the grantor wanted the project in that county or that area.”
Ultimately, the bill received a favorable recommendation from the House committee, with both sitting Southern Utah representatives – Shipp and Rep. Phil Lyman – voting to recommend the proposed legislation.
The bill passed the House with 74 favorable votes and was sent to the Utah Senate for consideration. The Senate sponsor, Sen. Evan Vickers, represents areas in Beaver, Iron and Washington counties.
“That particular bill will benefit our area,” Vickers said. “Especially in these drought-restrictive times, I think the bill is a really good thing. What it does is set up the process and a program for us to do a better job of protecting watersheds, and that’s going to become more and more critical, especially in our area where we have wildland fires and other things that go through and destroy watersheds.”
As of Feb. 7, the bill is awaiting review by the Senate Rules Committee.
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