Press Release

Ashley Valley Water and Sewer Improvement District is one of four culinary water entities in the Ashley Valley area who provide drinking water for approximately 30,000 people.  One of our core Federal and State mandates is to provide protection plans and action for the source of that drinking water.  AVWSID takes this responsibility very seriously and strives to ensure that the source waters of Ashley Springs are protected. 

For many years Uintah County has been an active participant in helping protect the Springs and helped draft the legislation (Dingell Act) that transferred the property to Uintah County to ensure better source protection.  The land transfer legislation was inspired in part due to active mining operations and proposals that could have put Ashley Springs at risk, both from contamination and from relocation due to operations that would fracture the fragile geology beneath.

AVWSID believes that the County’s active role in source protection took a drastic turn after the property was transferred to their ownership in 2020 when the County began to seek for recreation opportunities around the Ashley Springs itself, and the broader Ashley Gorge.

This recreational pursuit led the County to construct the Via Ferrata climbing network all while the district requested continued protection of Ashley Springs. 

Once the Via Ferrata was constructed and in use, the County began pursuing efforts to gain “public access” by claiming rights to a pipeline easement as a “road”.  This assertion was never verified by the County, and both private property owners contest the County road classification.

This has led to the County threatening condemnation proceedings and threats to remove long existing drinking water facilities in order to force AVWSID to open its gates to foot and vehicle traffic for people to explore the area that is supposed to be protected by multiple Water Source Protection Plans, including the very one the County wrote.

As part of this press release, the district is also releasing the official communications received from the County regarding the Condemnation and the long-term infrastructure easement for pipelines. 

The District strongly believes that the County’s recreational objectives have already been met through the construction of the Via Ferrata climbing trail. AVWSID further maintains that it is under no legal or operational obligation to open its gates to unrestricted public access solely at the County’s request and remains focused on fulfilling its primary responsibility of protecting Ashley Springs as a critical drinking water source for the community.

Uintah County Letter regarding easment to line past spring.pdfKunz attorney letter regarding VF access & Condemnation.pdf