The Connector - Summer 2008 - (Page 12)

Summer 2008 RWAU Legislative Report Paul Fulgham, Rural Water Legislative Chair ne thing that we know about this world we live in is that “things change.” About six months ago, I went to the optometrist for my annual eye check up and things were good, 20/20. Then a couple of weeks ago I started noticing that the words in my book started to become just a little blurry. After a trip to the local pharmacy and a nice new pair of reading glasses, things are now back in focus. This is how things go in this world of ours— change comes, and we have to refocus. Now that the summer is here, many of the new laws that were passed this past legislative session are now enacted. Rural Water held a two-day conference in Layton in April addressing our new water rights law, which deals with water right forfeiture. We had a great attendance from various groups of water professionals and had great speakers, such as Jerry Olds, informing us on how the particulars of the laws will be enacted. We also had Representative Patrick Painter telling us how the law making process took place. A lot of refocusing is going to have to take place—with all O parties—to ensure that the new water rights rules will work to better all water users now and in the future. Recently Mike Skyler, Executive Director for the Division of Natural Resources, organized an Executive Water Task Force. This group is made up of water professionals from around our state. Their job will be to address key water-related issues that affect us and to try to work towards a solution to them. The Utah Water Coalition has once again started meeting. They too will be working on water-related issues, and as their work develops I will be getting you more information on the issues that will be addressed. SB 127 – Underground Utility Location Bill: This is the bill that would push the responsibility of locating sewer laterals to the Utility Company that the lateral feeds into—no matter whether they own the lateral or not. Because of all the controversy with this bill, the Senate Committee which oversees it has directed that a workgroup be formed to study the issues. The Sewer Lateral Marking Workgroup has been formed, Turnkey Installation Conception to Commission Aquastore® Authorized Dealer No Repainting Costs Keeps Maintenance $$ Low Specialty Contractor Factory Trained Crews EAI West, Inc. 6706 North Franklin Loveland, CO 80538 970-962-9400 • 970-962-9412 www.eaiwest.com Kendall Smith & Pat Grummer with members from both sides of the issue. It is headed by Leland Myers, General Manager of the Central Davis Sewer Improvement District (one of the good guys), and representing us in rural Utah is Terral Dunn, RWAU Wastewater Tech. They have had their first meeting and are trying to work through the issues, remembering that the bottom line is made up of both public safety and cost to the public. If you have any comments on this issue, you might want to drop Terral an email and let him know of your concerns, dunn@ rwau.net . I will be keeping you posted on this issue as things develop. On the national front, we recently just returned from Washington D.C. where we attended the National Rural Water Association’s Water Rally. We had the opportunity to meet with our representatives and senators and their staff. As always, we were greeted with a great deal of respect for what Rural Water does, and we were assured that they would do all that they could to see that our funding and programs will continue. Oakley Town went back with us where their water represented Utah in the National Water Taste Test. They weren’t victorious in D.C., but we in Utah know that for 2008 they have the best tasting water. Just remember, as “things change,” “refocus.” The Connector 380615_eai.indd 1 12 5/14/08 8:19:34 AM http://www.eaiwest.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Connector - Summer 2008

The Connector - Summer 2008 Contents President's Message Executive Director's Comments Letters From Readers Legislative Update Rural Water News The Basics Shannon Rasmussen Sanitary Surveys - What to Expect: Part 1 Chuck Jeffs Tank Cleaning 101 Terry Smith Where in Utah?

The Connector - Summer 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.