Vernal City is giving the topic of changing water rates more time. Vernal City announced in April the need to explore restructuring water rates due to the reality of aging infrastructure and anticipated water shortages. The public was encouraged to give feedback and a public meeting was held in order to hear from the community. The proposed Ordinance for ‘Amending the Vernal City Water Rates and Rate Structure’ was on the agenda for the May 20th Vernal City Council meeting but, following Council discussion, the item was tabled. In a separate but other water related topic for Vernal City, Main Street flowers are back for the season. In response to questions and concerns due to the drought, Vernal City shared a reminder that the Main Street flowers are not watered using culinary water supply but instead using groundwater that must continually be pumped away from the Vernal City Hall building to prevent flooding in the basement. “Rather than letting that water go unused, Vernal City pumps it into a storage tank and uses it to water the downtown flowers…If it were not used for irrigation, the water would instead be discharged onto the City Hall storm lawn. This groundwater is non-potable, meaning it is not suitable for culinary use, and there is currently no feasible way to transport and treat it for use in homes.”
