A controversial pipeline meant for a water-strapped but rapidly growing Iron County community is back on the table.
The Pine Valley Water Supply project had been placed on hold, at the local water district’s request, for two years. But the Bureau of Land Management quietly announced late last month that it was resuming an environmental review of the pipeline and its associated wells, solar farm and transmission lines.
“It’s very much needed,” said Paul Monroe, general manager of the Central Iron County Water Conservancy District, the agency behind the project. “It’s the lifeblood of our community. It’s going to be our future.”
Cedar Valley, which includes Cedar City, Enoch and Kanarraville, has no major rivers and depends entirely on wells for its water supply. But its groundwater has been dwindling for decades. Central Iron County communities currently pump around 7,000 acre-feet more each year than the aquifer can sustainably recharge – about enough water to support 14,000 households. The dropping aquifer has caused wells to run dry, the ground surface to sink and resulting damage to roads, homes and other structures.
A state-mandated groundwater management plan went into effect for the area in 2021, which will mean a 75% cut to the cities’ existing water rights by 2070. Meanwhile, Iron County continues to grow – its population is expected to balloon by 70% in the next 40 years.
To meet current and future demands, Central Iron County Water Conservancy District looked to the aquifer beneath Pine Valley in neighboring Beaver County, filing water rights for 15,000 acre feet in 2006. The plan calls for 15 wells and a 66-mile pipeline that will pump the valley’s groundwater to thirsty Cedar Valley communities, all powered by a 200-acre solar farm.
But the project has met strong opposition from local ranchers, the Indian Peaks Band of Paiute, environmental groups and Beaver County officials who worry the pumping project could impact local water rights, and have adverse effects on aquifers many miles away, from Great Basin National Park to the Great Salt Lake.
“The juice is not worth the squeeze so Cedar City can continue to sprawl and use its existing water supplies recklessly,” said Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network.
The water district has vowed to work with other water users if their project causes disruptions.
But the water district requested federal agencies pause review of the project in May 2023, Monroe said, after they received a deluge of public comments raising concerns over the region’s hydrology.
Additional review, he said, revealed “nothing alarming, nothing surprising.”
The Bureau of Land Management did not respond to interview requests, but its website for the project notes the agency expects to finalize the review required by the National Environmental Policy Act this fall.
President Donald Trump’s administration has said it will fast-track environmental reviews for projects on federal lands, starting with the Velvet-Wood uranium mine in southeastern Utah. But Monroe said he asked BLM to restart review of the Pine Valley project in July — long before Trump began his latest term — and the decision had nothing to do with politics in Washington.
“We’re not policymakers,” Monroe said. “Our directive is to make sure water is here and available for the next 50 years.”
And while the Trump Administration has also cut staff and called for budget cuts at federal agencies like the BLM and U.S. Geological Survey, Monroe said he does not foresee any delays to the NEPA study.
Next steps will include engineering plans and developing a financial package to pay for the project. The district projected a $260 million price tag in 2019, which would drive up existing ratepayers’ water bills by $45 a month, assuming no growth or federal and state financial assistance. The project cost has likely grown by 30%, Monroe said, due to inflation.
The district sought a $4.8 million appropriation from the Legislature in 2022, mostly from the now-spent federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars, but lawmakers did not fund the request.
In 2024, however, lawmakers earmarked $500,000 to study water the needs of both western Beaver County and Cedar Valley.
Note to readers • 12:05 p.m., Monday, June 9 This story has been updated to clarify the extent of potential impacts from the water district’s proposed pumping in Pine Valley.
