This is your daily news rundown for Friday, June 19. In this edition:
- Utah sold 50,000 acres of Book Cliffs land to another state agency on Thursday
- Residents of a Washington County town are conserving water because of well issues
Utah sold 50,000 acres for conservation. Some question the sale’s legality
Utah officials sold 50,000 acres of the Book Cliffs area to another state agency to maintain it as open space.
The Utah School Institutional Trust Lands Administration sold the land in southeastern Utah to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources for about $30 million on Thursday.
Local officials and residents praised the sale for supporting conservation and keeping the area publicly accessible.
However, others expressed concerns about how the transaction was funded. The money came from a "rainy day" fund for public education, which comes from income tax revenue.
Restrictions exist on income tax revenue and how that rainy day account is used, leading public education advocates to question if this sale was legal.
Apple Valley residents are asked to conserve water because of well issues
Residents in Apple Valley are being asked to conserve water because of dropping water levels in of the small town’s two main wells.
Officials said a landowner recently drilled an agricultural well deeper to irrigate crops. While that landowner followed state regulations, it still impacted the town’s secondary well and caused the aquifer to begin draining.
In an emergency town hall meeting on Thursday, officials assured that water was not running out. However, they still asked residents to conserve water while the town works on repairs and long-term solutions.
This is one of several water supply issues the southern Utah town has faced in recent years, including high radium levels in Cedar Point’s water back in 2024.
