This is your daily news rundown for Tuesday, April 7. In this edition:
- Utah is using $5 million in federal grants to continue plugging orphaned wells
- The Forward Party of Utah won't nominate a candidate for District 1 in November's election
- Individual conservation efforts allowed Salt Lake County to lease water to Great Salt Lake
Utah plans to plug 24 more orphaned wells in the next two years
Utah has been given $5 million by the federal government to continue plugging up orphaned wells in the state.
Many of the orphaned oil or gas wells in Utah were drilled prior to regulations or were abandoned by companies that went out of business.
Instead, the state has spent over 30years plugging those wells through the OGM Orphan Well Plugging Program. In that time, they’ve plugged 153 wells for $5.7 million.
With this new funding, officials plan to plug 24 wells in the Uintah Basin and southeastern Utah over the next two years. Each well undergoes a risk assessment to determine its priority for plugging, considering factors like internal pressure, proximity to population centers, and the condition of the well’s equipment.
Utah’s Forward Party won’t be running for District 1 this year
The Forward Party of Utah has decided not to nominate a candidate for District 1.
The congressional districts have changed for at least this November’s election, thanks to a court decision in Utah’s redistricting case.
That includes District 1 now encompassing Salt Lake County and leaning left in the Republican-controlled state, leading to a flurry of Democrats filing to run for the position.
The Forward Party, however, has decided not to nominate a candidate to run in that district, saying they didn’t want to use the big race as a “publicity stunt.”
The party is running 24 candidates in other state and county races this November.
Thanks to individual conservation efforts, Salt Lake County is sending water to Great Salt Lake
Water conserved by residents in Salt Lake County is heading to Great Salt Lake.
The Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake and Sandy is leasing about 2,500 acre feet of water to the lake every year for the next five to 10 years.
It’s possible largely because of conservation efforts by individuals, according to the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust — steps like replacing turf for water-wise landscaping or reducing water usage indoors.
While the agreement will go for several years, it may be extra important this year, with Utah’s snowpack at its lowest point since that data was first tracked in 1930 and more than half of that minimal snowpack already melted during record heat in March.
