Recently, residents may have received a letter regarding a Water Rights Summons.

Hideout’s water attorney provided the following information:

“These notices are sent as part of the Utah Lake/Jordan River Drainage Basin General Adjudication process that has been unfolding in the Third District Court. The action has been pending in the courts for many decades, but the legislature finally allocated the funds necessary to move it forward. The effort is to identify and confirm (or determine) all of the water rights in each basin. They have been using this process in Salt Lake and Utah Counties and are now moving into Wasatch County.

I have never thought that the Summons and explanatory letter presented a clear explanation of the process. Basically, people who do not have water rights in their name or appurtenant to their property can simply ignore the letters. That group will include the majority of your residents. Those who have their own water rights or use water on their land that does not come to them from an irrigation company or a service district should take steps to make sure their water rights are properly identified in the adjudication or they will be at risk of losing them.”

If you have any further questions regarding the Summons, please feel free to contact the Town Offices at 435-659-4739.