TOPICAL ARTICLES

September 2004

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UTAH: Enforcement of Water Penalties

Water quality and water quantity allocation issues are interconnected, but in Utah, they are still dealt with by separate agencies in separate departments of state government and these separate agencies rarely talk to one another. As a result, water quality regulation and water resource allocation occur largely in isolation from each other, even though the United States Supreme Court has recognized that any distinction between water quality and water quantity is an “artificial distinction.” In PUD No. 1 v. Washington Department of Ecology, 114 S. Ct. 1900(1994), the Court explained: [i]n many cases, water quantity is closely related to water quality; a sufficient lowering of the water quantity in a body of water could destroy all of its designated uses, be it for drinking water, recreation, navigation or, as here, a fishery. In any event, there is recognition in the Clean Water Act itself that reduced stream flow, i.e., diminishment of water quantity, can constitute water pollution. Id. at 1912-13.