Developers in the Ogden Valley are growing increasingly frustrated with a local water district, as the conflict has made its way from the rural valley in eastern Weber County into Ogden’s district court.
In a lawsuit filed last week, a developer alleges the Wolf Creek Water and Sewer Improvement District, a local water provider, has unlawfully restricted development by claiming there isn’t enough culinary water for the prospective developments.
This isn’t the first time the water district has faced lawsuits regarding the restriction of development. The June lawsuit is the second suit since May, with another developer also claiming the district has unlawfully blocked it from moving forward with its projects.
The lawsuits come down to developers believing there’s enough culinary water to supply proposed developments around the valley, but the water district disagreeing.
The most recent company suing, which is listed as Luminary in court filings, has tried to create a development near the intersection of Wolf Creek Drive and Moose Hollow Drive, which would be called Powder Canyon at Wolf Creek.
In Weber County, a new development can only be approved to move forward if a developer gets written confirmation from its local water authority that it has enough water capacity to service the development. Those records are called “can and will serve letters.”
In July 2020, the Wolf Creek Water and Sewer Improvement District rescinded a number of will-serve letters, and a year later, the district issued a moratorium on any new will-serve letters, the lawsuit says.
Water district officials didn’t respond to an email inquiry and phone message from Building Salt Lake, but the district did issue a public statement in May following a lawsuit over the building moratorium.
The district says it lost two water sources in 2020, which left them with only one culinary water source, called the Warmspring Well. The district said it drilled another well in 2022, but, “connection of that well to our system was delayed, but is now mostly complete with a total project cost of approximately $2 million.”
District officials added that once there’s a second functioning culinary water source, they can consider doing a new pump test on the Warmspring Well to provide updated data, which “may show that there is additional capacity in the well, if it is equipped with a pump.”
“Given our good faith efforts, we are saddened by the additional lawsuit filed against us by the developers,” the district said in its May statement. “While we cannot comment on the specifics of ongoing litigation, we take this opportunity to reaffirm that we will fight for the rights of our current customers.”
The June lawsuit alleges the water district has tried to drill other wells to beef up its supply, but those wells ultimately interfered with other water providers’ supply. However, the lawsuit claims the Utah Division of Drinking Water ultimately approved a plan to drill a replacement for a separate well, though the lawsuit alleges the water district has not done that.
The lawsuit also alleges, “Despite multiple orders from (the Utah Division of Water Rights) requiring that the District install a meter to measure water diverted from the Warm Springs Well [sic], no such meter was installed until Developers paid to install a meter in the summer of 2024.”
Ultimately, developers believe there’s sufficient water capacity to move forward with their projects, but they allege the water district is, “acting in bad faith and stringing (the developer) along, happy to accept (the developer’s) stand by fees all while opposing new water source development or applications.”
Attorneys representing the developers did not respond to an email from Building Salt Lake seeking comment on the lawsuit.
The May lawsuit
The Ogden Valley has been a recent hotspot for potential real estate developments, as the combination of the valley’s available land and proximity to three ski resorts have made it an attractive area for those looking to build.
Development was largely the reason why a number of Ogden Valley residents have pushed to incorporate as a town, done in the hopes of wrestling control away from the Weber County Commission, which some in the valley view as uninterested in concerns from valley residents. Local residents voted in November to incorporate, with over 64% of voters approving the effort.
But in the months since, the district has been sued twice over local developments that are waiting on water approvals.
In May, Wolf Creek Resort Holdings filed a lawsuit in Ogden’s district court making similar accusations against the water district. The court filing alleges the water district, “believes and intends to act on the belief that the District does not have a legal duty to provide culinary and secondary water services to customers who are able to pay for those services in those areas to the extent that it has available resources and can refuse, deny, or condition the delivery of water services in a discretionary manner for any reason or no reason.”
Shane Dunleavy, one of the owners of Wolf Creek Resort Holdings, told KSL.com in May that he believes the water district is “weaponizing” its position to block developments from going forward. He also told KSL.com that, “The water is the only thing stopping us.”
As of Tuesday, both lawsuits are still pending. Neither lawsuit currently has any hearings scheduled in Ogden’s 2nd District Court.
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