St. George • Despite a record-low snowpack and an emergency drought declaration from Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, Shivwits Band of Paiutes leaders say there is ample water on hand to move forward with a major golf resort in southern Utah.

Opponents, though, argue the 1,250-acre resort proposed for reservation land west of St. George will soak up all or most of the the band’s water rights and limit the Shivwits’ ability to pursue future development. The issue is a major point of contention dividing the pro-golf Shivwits leadership and the Red Mountain Land Preservers, a group opposed to the resort.

Announced in October, the joint venture between Shivwits Band leaders and Black Desert Resort developer Reef Capital would feature three 18-hole golf courses, a practice course and other amenities. Shivwits leaders expect the project to create more than 135 jobs and generate tens of millions in new revenue.

A 2001 settlement provides the foundation for the band’s water security. It requires St. George to deliver 2,000 acre-feet of annual reuse water to the tribe, while the Washington County Conservancy District must provide an additional 1,900 acre-feet, a sum that can be reduced during drought years. The band also has rights to another 100 acre-feet of groundwater on the reservation.

According to the Band Council, the planned golf courses will not exhaust the Shivwits yearly water allotment or hamstring future development on the reservation.

“The project is planned around approximately 2,000 acre-feet of dedicated reuse water rights, recycled water specifically designated for golf course irrigation and separate from the band’s potable water allocation,” the council said in an email to The Tribune.

Lawrence Snow, a Shivwits member of the rapidly growing Red Mountain resistance group, said he fears the resort, if built, would consume too much of the tribe’s water and further a long history of corporate exploitation of Native Americans.

“It is a big land grab and water grab for a big corporation,” he said. “Under the long-term lease the Shivwits Band Council and Capitol Reef are discussing, our land and our water will be gone and we will never get them back. This resort will tie up the future for our children and grandchildren.”

Doing the math

St. George operates four municipal golf courses, and Scott Taylor, the city’s water services director, said an 18-hole course in southern Utah typically requires 600 acre-feet of water.

By that count, three courses would require about 1,800 acre-feet of water, and might top 2,000 acre-feet if the practice course is included.

“They could probably make that work,” Taylor said.

Taylor said the total may not be the problem, though. The 2001 agreement limits the Shivwits to 2.8 million gallons of daily water, a cap that combined course usage could exceed on hot summer days, he said.

Water district general manager Zach Renstrom noted golf courses can be designed to use a lot less water by using real grass on the tee boxes and putting greens and artificial turf on the fairways.

While he noted that drought-resistant Bermuda grass is another option, he acknowledged that its tendency to turn yellow and go dormant in October makes it unpopular with players, who generally dislike artificial turf and discolored grass.

The Band Council said that when it comes to water use, the acreage, not the number of golf courses, is the key factor. The proposed Shivwits courses will prioritize conservation by utilizing drought-resistant grasses and precision irrigation systems to reduce water consumption, he added.

“These are built into the project specifications, not add-ons,” he said. “The project’s planning and sustainability modeling are based on irrigated acreage and contemporary efficiency standards, and we are confident the courses will operate within the existing reuse water allocation.”

More water?

Whether the existing water delivery system can meet peak irrigation demand remains to be seen.

Washington County Water Conservancy District General Manager Zach Renstrom said that after news about the golf courses surfaced, Reef Capital approached the district about providing water beyond the limits outlined in the 2001 agreement.

“We feel that the band is our neighbor, and we want to help them out in any way we could, but to supply water to a golf course, we wouldn’t think that is appropriate,” Renstrom said.

Black Desert managing partner Patrick Manning said the discussions involved better storage infrastructure to capture water in low-demand periods for use in times when more water may be needed — not increasing the Shivwits’ total annual allocation.

“I don’t believe [anyone] has been asked for ‘more’ water, just more efficient ways to utilize what already exists,” he said in a text.

Correction • May 21, 6:00 a.m.: This story has been updated to correctly attribute quotes to the Shivwits Band Council.