Ripple Effect: A Podcast Putting Water In Context
Aug 20, 2026 · 50 min · 11 segments
Send us Fan Mail Mike Whimpey, Assistant General Manager, and Shaun Hilton, Assistant Chief Engineer, join us to discuss critical developments in Utah water infrastructure. Often, people incorrectly…
So, Sean, I think one of the other things that I think is really important when we have water discussions is also kind of putting some like brass tacks to what it means for water development.
And so for those folks who don't know what that means is that, you know, you kind of actually operate as kind of like a quasi-governmental entity or you are a governmental entity with a board that's... subject to the public.
And so you do use public dollars to finance your projects through your repayment contracts and revenue streams through water use, etc.
And so can you give us an idea of kind of what it costs to do one of those 11 wells? Because I think it's really important to start getting an understanding of kind of the actual financial commitment that is needed to continue to have functioning water infrastructure.
no the three wells that mike was wrapping up when i first started in 2020 pre-covered and post covered that's why i say it was a bit of a loaded question because we have the three wells that that mike did and then we have the three wells that i did and they were more or less the exact same project one was pre-covered and one was post-covered pre-covered it was about three and a half million dollars to drill the well and then another three and a half million to put up pump and pump house there so total construction for a well to get water into our system was about seven million yeah about seven million post covid was about seven for each so it about doubled from pre to post covid so went from about seven million before to about 14 million after okay
okay Well, I think that's important, too, because I think the other thing is that, like,
you know,
utilities and municipalities are not immune from world events and world markets and steals, tariffs, and contractor costs.
And so, you know, I also think it's important, too, is that one thing I see in public utilities, not so much for you guys, but for, like, the little small guys, is...
People complain when they have to have their water rates raised, and especially for very small companies, like companies that are regulated by the Public Service Commission that have not had improvements in decades.
But you also have to be like, yes, and, or instead of yes, but, but yes, I know that's a lot of money and that's a change for you, but the reality is this is the cost of service.
And I think we have
to really start having, if we're going to value water and kind of value our water infrastructure and like safe, reliable water service, it's important to understand what that really costs.
One of the unique aspects of the CWP is that it's the largest regional groundwater development and delivery system that the district owns.
But it is when those original water rights were purchased, we had a water supply with zero customers and zero revenue to be able to do that.
And so in order to even deliver the first drop of water, which occurred in 2014, we had to invest a significant amount of money into the first set of wells that Sean mentioned.
We developed three, well, drilled five wells initially and developed three of them.
and we had to put in pipelines we had to go out and find customers and so we started meeting with the different municipalities engaging the need for the water where was the demand for the water who would be able to contract for it who would be able to pay for it and how would we how would we organize that in such a manner that we could construct the infrastructure while not receiving a penny in water cells and then later begin those contracts.
We found that the main demand for the water was in the northern and western parts of Utah County and in the western side of the Salt Lake Valley.
So, Sean, I think one of the other things that I think is really important when we have water discussions is also kind of putting some like brass tacks to what it means for water development.
And so for those folks who don't know what that means is that, you know, you kind of actually operate as kind of like a quasi-governmental entity or you are a governmental entity with a board that's... subject to the public.
And so you do use public dollars to finance your projects through your repayment contracts and revenue streams through water use, etc.
And so can you give us an idea of kind of what it costs to do one of those 11 wells? Because I think it's really important to start getting an understanding of kind of the actual financial commitment that is needed to continue to have functioning water infrastructure.
no the three wells that mike was wrapping up when i first started in 2020 pre-covered and post covered that's why i say it was a bit of a loaded question because we have the three wells that that mike did and then we have the three wells that i did and they were more or less the exact same project one was pre-covered and one was post-covered pre-covered it was about three and a half million dollars to drill the well and then another three and a half million to put up pump and pump house there so total construction for a well to get water into our system was about seven million yeah about seven million post covid was about seven for each so it about doubled from pre to post covid so went from about seven million before to about 14 million after okay
okay Well, I think that's important, too, because I think the other thing is that, like,
you know,
utilities and municipalities are not immune from world events and world markets and steals, tariffs, and contractor costs.
And so, you know, I also think it's important, too, is that one thing I see in public utilities, not so much for you guys, but for, like, the little small guys, is...
People complain when they have to have their water rates raised, and especially for very small companies, like companies that are regulated by the Public Service Commission that have not had improvements in decades.
But you also have to be like, yes, and, or instead of yes, but, but yes, I know that's a lot of money and that's a change for you, but the reality is this is the cost of service.
And I think we have
to really start having, if we're going to value water and kind of value our water infrastructure and like safe, reliable water service, it's important to understand what that really costs.
One of the unique aspects of the CWP is that it's the largest regional groundwater development and delivery system that the district owns.
But it is when those original water rights were purchased, we had a water supply with zero customers and zero revenue to be able to do that.
And so in order to even deliver the first drop of water, which occurred in 2014, we had to invest a significant amount of money into the first set of wells that Sean mentioned.
We developed three, well, drilled five wells initially and developed three of them.
and we had to put in pipelines we had to go out and find customers and so we started meeting with the different municipalities engaging the need for the water where was the demand for the water who would be able to contract for it who would be able to pay for it and how would we how would we organize that in such a manner that we could construct the infrastructure while not receiving a penny in water cells and then later begin those contracts.
We found that the main demand for the water was in the northern and western parts of Utah County and in the western side of the Salt Lake Valley.
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