When Silver Creek Estates residents learned last spring the Summit County Service Area #3 Board of Trustees was considering raising water rates and fees, they banded together to oppose the proposal.
They held neighborhood meetings that drew dozens of residents to discuss the proposal — especially the proposed implementation of a 25 cent fee for every gallon of water that exceeds a lot’s allocation — and researched overage fees in other areas.
“We all agree that we live in an area that is a drought area historically and even though our aquifers are full, even though all of our reservoirs are full because we’ve had record snowfall the last couple of years, we recognize that we have to limit water usage and be cautious about how we use our water,” resident Joe D’Urso said. “We all agree on that and we also all agree that if somebody goes over their water usage, they should pay for it.”
However, the proposal got residents up in arms because proposed water rates were higher than surrounding areas and the overage fee was “draconian,” D’Urso said. He questioned why such a large fee would be needed to enforce the water limit.
At a public hearing on April 9, 2024, the board approved a rate and fee schedule that included the $0.25 overage fee — a change based on data showing an increase in excessive usage, a staff report says.
“It was just crazy high,” she said. “It’s been great that the residents have come together to voice their concerns.”
Silver Creek Estates originally was planned as a private gated community, but the developer dropped those plans in the 1960s and turned over the property and water rights to Summit County. The service area was created to manage the roads and water, and also maintains some trails and Lewis Park Preserve.
The service area is a political subdivision of the state of Utah that is governed by seven trustees who are elected to four-year terms. It is not a private water company or an HOA and is funded through a line item on residents’ taxes, gas and road taxes, water rights administration fees and construction permit fees.
There are 197 residential connections in Lower Silver Creek on the culinary system and 167 private wells on Upper Silver Creek accessing a service area water right.
The board decided in the 1960s to limit annual water allocations to ensure there is sufficient water for the lots entitled to water service. The lots with private wells in Upper Silver Creek have an allotment of up to 1.0 acre foot of water, which equals 325,581 gallons, and lots in Lower Silver Creek that are connected to the system have an allotment of up to 0.75 acre foot of water, or 244,388 gallons.
The allotments are designed to ensure that residents stay within those limits and SCSA#3 has enough water for their reasonable needs, including those on the last lots to develop.
To get more water for a lot, residents would have to buy additional water rights, if they can even find them. General Manager John O’Brien said the limited supply drives up the cost and Summit County has some of the most expensive water rights in Utah.
Enforcement is expensive, according to information presented by Bracken at an Aug. 20, 2024, public workshop on the service area’s water rights and regulations. SCSA#3 recently incurred $100,000 in administrative and legal costs to ensure every private well has a meter as required by state law, he said. Property owners must install the meters at their own expense.
Residents can sign up for Eye on Water, an app that monitors water use and identifies potential continuous flow water leaks.
Another public workshop was held on Nov. 12, 2024, to discuss community concerns.
The discussion about water policies and the fees has sometimes gotten contentious.
“All I’ve heard is that we have to protect our water,” resident Frank Smith said at a June 25, 2024, board meeting. “Yet we find out you are actually selling water. OK? And I have an issue with that.”
Smith, who is the Summit County sheriff, said that in his profession he is accountable to the people, who decide every four years whether he will be employed.
“You should be accountable to us,” said Smith, who was speaking for himself as a citizen. “And I’m being spoken to like you’re not, and I don’t like it. And I’m going to tell you, you’ve woken a sleeping giant because I’m coming after all of you because I don’t like the tone of this, I don’t like what you’ve done and I don’t like your arrogance because you’re all arrogant. You work for us, we don’t work for you and you’ve forgotten that. You’ve pissed off some really powerful people, and you’re going to pay for that.”
Smith — who said he had no immediate financial interest in the water rates because he was nowhere near his limit in 2024 — told The Park Record he did not believe his remarks intimidated anyone. He did not announce his job title or the fact that he works in law enforcement, he said.
“Being sheriff does not mean I forfeit my right to express myself as a resident,” Smith said. “It doesn’t mean as a citizen I cannot get frustrated when I feel my neighbors are being wronged.”
Residents also have alleged the service area lacks authority to charge for overages and is selling stolen state water by charging the fee when SCSA#3 is not exceeding its water rights and the state owns the water. They also questioned why the service area charges a lower rate for water sales from its system.
The service area addressed those concerns at the workshops and the answers to constituent questions are posted on its website.
Utah code gives special districts the authority to impose fees for services, including the costs of maintaining and operating the district, the service area says. It says the purpose of the overage fee is to cover enforcement costs, not to sell water.
The water is not stolen because “the state of Utah owns the water molecules in Utah, but the right to use this water is a property that can be owned and conveyed,” SCSA#3 says.
The rates for sales are based on the costs incurred when the water is produced, according to the service area. And most of those sales, which are not common, supply water to neighboring communities experiencing emergencies or to lots where construction is underway, it says.
A new rate schedule will be considered by all new trustees, who were appointed to serve the remainder of the terms of board members who resigned. At the time of the April 9 vote, there were three vacant board seats and other trustees stepped down later in the year.
A bill introduced at the Utah Legislature would allow cities to set a tiered system for their water rates. House Bill 274, sponsored by Rep. Casey Snider, R-Paradise, would create a presumption regarding the reasonableness of rates that include water conservation as an element in determining the rate.
SCSA#3 began holding monthly Coffee & Tea open houses last year to give residents the opportunity to ask questions, learn about upcoming projects in the service area and get to know their neighbors.
At January’s open house, David Christensen, who has lived in Silver Creek Estates since 1985, stopped by and talked about trail access and road repairs to staff members.
Christensen, who has a 10-acre lot with numerous trees and a good-sized lawn, said his family doesn’t have a problem staying within the allotment for their well.
“We’re trying to encourage conservation and therefore having a penalty for overuse is appropriate,” he said.
The next Coffee & Tea open house is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Thursday in the Service Area conference room at 629 Parkway Drive in Park City.