In 2006, the District filed on water rights in 3 basins (Pine Valley[basin 14], Wah Wah[basin 69], and Hamlin[basin 19]) – These basins had been virtually uninhabited and unappropriated for over the last 150+ years.
The District then went above statutory requirements and commissioned a study with the USGS to help the State Engineer determine how much water would be sustainably available in that valley.
In 2014, the State Engineer approved 15,000 acre-feet(AF) in Pine Valley(Basin 14) and 6,525 AF in Wah Wah Valley(Basin 69) for the District. (The District has not yet pursued the Hamlin Valley water right applications). The approval was conditioned to ensure that no senior rights would be impaired, and that the basin will not exceed safe yield (actual sustainable/available water).
Following more than a decade of litigation involving competing groundwater applications, the parties negotiated a comprehensive water right settlement agreement that was approved by the Fifth District Court in 2019.
Under that settlement Beaver County received:
- 725 acre-foot water right, in Wah Wah Valley.
- 1,650 acre-foot Pine Valley application and the District withdrew its protest, clearing the path to approval.
- 6,500 acre-feet were reserved for future economic development associated with the Blawn Mountain project. This allocation is held by Cedar Valley Water Conservancy, with a contract for that water belonging to SITLA, under a separate Water Supply Agreement tied to SITLA’s Blawn Mountain property.
The reservation of approximately 6,500 acre-feet for Blawn Mountain reflected the Beaver County Commission’s long-standing priority during settlement negotiations to secure sufficient water to support development of the Utah Alunite mining project and related economic activity in the county.
Although that project ultimately did not move forward, the reserved water allocation remains protected for future economic development opportunities at the Blawn Mountain property, and Beaver County’s own 725 acre-foot and 1,650 acre-foot rights likewise remain protected and available for the County’s own future development.
In 2019, the District began the Environmental Process with the BLM for the Pine Valley Water Supply Project(PVWS). The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) federal environmental permit was the next logical step in this process. We have spent the years since that 2019 settlement working alongside federal experts to ensure that the project meets the highest standards of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The result is a science-based plan that includes a sophisticated monitoring and mitigation program with legally binding triggers designed to protect our regional resources and senior water right holders.
The Pine Valley Water Supply (PVWS) Project is designed with acute attention to possible environmental impacts. The BLM published the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) March 2nd 2026 seven years after the process began. Followed by the Record of decision signed approving issuance of temporary and long-term right of way grants | Bureau of Land Management.
Through the Environmental Process, the District has agreed to a monitoring program that will include monitoring of groundwater levels, spring flows, etc. If there are impacts, pumping will be adjusted, and if there is unanticipated impairment, water users will be made whole by supplemental water or other resources as identified in State Law.
The District is committed to ensuring that the PVWS project is environmentally sound, so it can provide a sustainable source of water for the future of Cedar Valley. It has been and will continue to be a long process, but we are embracing that process as it will ensure that things are done legally and correctly.
