The first truckloads of pipe are arriving in Henefer to create a new secondary water supply, according to Mayor Kay Richins.
The town signed a contract Tuesday with Marriott Construction to build the new infrastructure in town.
Secondary water is distinguished from culinary water, which is used for eating, drinking and washing. Secondary water is untreated, and can be used for things like irrigation and firefighting.
As Richins explained, the new water isn’t going to be used to accommodate, much less encourage, new growth. It’s a matter of breaking even.
That’s because all of Henefer’s outdoor watering currently uses culinary water.
“That draws your tanks dangerously low,” he said. “You have to keep so much in your tanks for fire suppression. So during the summer months, we don't have enough water.”
That’s why no one has been allowed to make a new connection to the city’s culinary water since May 2018.
That won’t change soon, because construction is only just beginning. But the mayor said he hopes the moratorium could be lifted for next summer.
He called the process a “roller coaster ride” at a meeting of Summit County’s mayors Tuesday. Contractors’ bids came in at $2 million more than the town expected.
But Henefer has the funding it needs thanks to a state loan.
The first phase of construction is laying the pipe. Later this year, the town will tap the sources of the secondary water supply: Echo Reservoir and irrigation ditches.
Richins said ditch lining will happen only after the irrigation season is over.
