Savannah Perkins

By Savannah Perkins

The Cache County Council unanimously approved and passed a resolution on Tuesday evening in favor of the creation of a water conservancy district on the ballot in November.

“Our passing of the resolution shows the citizens that we have reviewed it, thought about it and we are in support of it and encourage them to do the same,” said Gordon A.  Zilles, a Cache County Council member. “The community members should all think about it and see if they support it or not as well.”

The Water Conservancy District work group began meeting at the beginning of the year with the goal to have the district on the ballot of each community in November’s general election. For members of the work group, addressing all 19 municipalities of Cache County is the current step toward that goal.

“This just allows us to put the district on the ballot so we can find out if the people want it or not,” said Jon White, a Cache County Council member and district work group member.

The county council is the first of all the county’s city or town officials to have made any action on the resolution. White said he expects many others to follow suit near the beginning of May.

The Cache County Council, members of the work group and the county water department have all worked together to show the impact a district would have.

“We need the district so we can meet our future water needs,” said Bob Fotheringham, the county water manager.

Fotheringham explained concerns about water supply and demand. With a plan and more development, he said concerns could be protected.

“With the Water Conservancy District we could make better use of water and plan for future storage of water,” said Val K. Potter, a Cache County Council member.

A public hearing will be held within 45 days of the passing of the resolution so the community can weigh in on the ballot measure.