State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

UT: Lawmaker aims to strip Utah cities' authority to protect their drinking water sources

Salt Lake Tribune: The longstanding ability of Utah cities to regulate land use in mountain watersheds they tap for drinking water could come to an end, under a bill filed in advance of this year’s session of the Utah Legislature.

Rep. Mike Noel’s House Bill 135 targets a legal concept that dates back to Utah’s settlement era, enabling Salt Lake City to restrict dogs and livestock and some land-disturbing activities far up the Wasatch canyons that supply water to residents and businesses along the Salt Lake Valley’s east side.

Cities’ so-called “extraterritorial jurisdiction” to regulate land-use outside their boundaries has long been a sore point for several property owners in Little and Big Cottonwood canyons, but Noel’s proposed fix could create more problems than it solves, according to some of the state’s top environmental regulators.

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