No, I'm gonna stand.

I'm gonna folks um I'm Tom Godfrey, the chair of Metro Water, and um I want to welcome you all to our house.

We always come and visit you at your house.

So welcome to our house.

And I gotta give you a little history.

Um Sandy is a part of Metro Water because of my vote.

I was on the city council in 1990 when we voted to bring Sandy into Metro Water.

So I have a little background there.

And one of the reasons we've called this uh gathering is that as we presented property tax things and budgets to you folks.

Questions have come up about the relationship between Metro and Sandy.

Um what are the benefits for Sandy?

What are the costs of water and things like that?

So we thought it's time to have a chat together with your folks.

So that's why you're here.

I just want to welcome you and uh hope it's a good meeting for you.

So Annalie.

Tom, do you want to say anything about the inside of that?

Um thank you, Annaline.

I I would second what Tom has said.

I didn't know that, Tom, that you were on the board or on the city, Salt Lake City Council.

I knew yourself a city council member.

But that's really good.

I would say a takeaway for you as counsel to just go with what Thomas said, that you see these people that we work with, we meet at least once a month.

Many times it's more often.

That if you have a conservator in question, that you feel comfortable to call in on me.

Call Tom, call myself and my staff, anybody on the staff.

We call ourselves the Metro family.

So it's Salt Lake and Metro and Sandy.

We meet together as your staff, and as you'll see, it is not in consequential what these folks are doing.

I know we have a lot of important things in Sandy, of course, part of your water team.

But I think you will see that I'll quote uh this time I'll choose uh know the value of water when well runs dry.

So our job is to make sure that it's always flowing, it's always clean, there's so much that goes into it.

Um Tom is one of seven trustees, and we got Florence and John, who you know we're on your P We V board.

Um John, how long have you been on PAB?

Uh PUAB, I think Jimmy will told me uh 2001, maybe long this board 2003 with a brief interlude when I was in West Africa.

Yeah, and then Florence, maybe if you could just introduce remind them about some of your background.

Well, I I was with Salt Lake City, I worked with Salt Lake City from 89 um to 2013, and I retired.

Um I was water quality administrator, so I have a little bit of a background in water, water quality, uh water treatment.

And I have been with Tom, I think, for eight years.

Florence is just one of my first bosses.

It's and then I was her boss for a little while, and then we got to work together again and so and I you know I've been on the Sandy's uh public utilities board for about eight years, I think.

Sandy resident that whole time.

Oh, I've been a resident since 89.

Yeah.

So I've been here a long time.

And I, at the expense of potentially embarrassing some folks, we have some of the icons in Utah Water, are part of this.

Florence and John and Tom and the trustees.

So we're well represented, but then one of the best ways we can do that is just following what Tom said, having a relationship so that you feel comfortable asking us questions, and if we're not educating you or helping you, you've got a principal number here.

So thank you, Tom.

Thanks, Tom.

I know I've met all of you.

Just remind uh maybe you haven't met some of my staff.

So uh Gordon Cooks, my assistant general manager, chief operating officer.

He's been a metro for 29 years.

He knows every pipe every Val.

He uh run circles around me in that area.

And then we have Brianna Jackson, she's our executive administrator, she helped with the meal today, and so amazing doppers.

She recently was recognized by their mount section as the outstanding administration award.

So she serves uh our board and helps with all these things.

So great, it's fun to see uh Shane Pace when I started a Metro.

I had to make sure I had refreshments for Shane and every city's meetings.

Oh my day.

Michael says, like, make sure you have refreshments, Annaline.

I'm like, I can do that.

I will do that.

That's my job.

So yeah, it's just grateful for this opportunity.

I'm thankful you could come here.

It's a this location's beautiful, and it's a fun time.

I thought it would be helpful today to I love history, I love reading about things, and maybe helping you understand the history of Metro and what it entails, and then by Sandy petitioned to be annexed into the district.

Again, this is just for me reading.

I wasn't here, I think Shane and some of the others were.

You dated me by a year.

You dated me, okay.

All right, by a year.

Um and then kind of hopefully you can see you know what are the what is the value of this relationship.

Um, and we we truly do see it as a relationship between Salt Lake City and Sandy, and as Tom mentioned, it's a Metro water family.

Um, what we do have planned is that six, I'm gonna be done by six o'clock so that we can see the plant.

Um part of one of what we wanted to show you specifically because we have water flowers.

We do have a project that we're just in the very beginning stages of of rebuilding this plan, and so we wanted to show you.

We're not gonna go through the treatment process, but really show you what in the treatment process that we're have concerns with as far as aging and reliability and stuff like that.

So if I welcome questions, some I may not be able to answer right away, but I can get back with you.

Um I feel like I know a lot of stuff, but when I'm up here, my mind, I don't know, you have that experience.

So I want to start with this slide.

Um, this is Fisher Harris.

He was the first counsel and general manager for the Metropolitan Water District, but he wrote a book called Hundred Years of Water Development.

It's really interesting.

But he I like this quote.

He said, the Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake City was created at the will of the people and at their direction for their sole benefit.

It has embraced upon a public enterprise of a magnitude and of an importance to them beyond anything ever before undertaken in Utah.

And I think as we look at the history, you'll see how true that statement is.

Um because even before Metro was established, the need for reliable water was clear.

Uh, the formation of the district took place during a difficult period in the United States as well as in Utah.

The country was experiencing the Great Depression along with the worst recorded drought in Utah.

Um, but despite these challenges, Salt Lake City officials laid the groundwork for a sustainable water supply program that promised to secure the city's future and establish a long-term water supply.

So in March of 1935, the Metropolitan Water District Act became law.

So this act allowed cities to create districts within their corporate boundaries for the purpose of developing water resources and facilities to meet their public water needs.

The act outlined the purpose and guidelines for metropolitan water districts, and at a special election on August 15th, 1935, voters from Salt Lake City approved forming a district.

So 15 days later, on August 30th, 1935, the Secretary of State issued the certificate of incorporation for the Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake City.

And so we recently celebrated our 90th anniversary.

And then also, in order for the federal government, excuse me, in order to contract with the federal government for the construction of the Provo River Project and repay any of those reimbursable costs, the Provo River Water Users Association was organized in May 2nd of 1934.

And we're we'll learn about that history, but Metro is a majority shareholder in that association.

So this is another quote I liked.

Really, these foundational efforts were made in order to adequately provide for the future water supply of Salt Lake City.

And the city engineer at the time said it's essential that a plan be adopted so that the necessary provisions for delivery of such water into the city may be made sufficiently in advance of its actual need.

That's a great thing, right?

To prevent any serious future water shortage.

And at that time, the city population had already doubled 20% in just 10 years, and we know how it's going today, right?

It just continues to grow.

So it says in the following years, we actually pursued shares in the Proverba River Water Users Association, and we began planning for the acquisition and construction of facilities of distribution facilities for water.

And by December of 1937, we had entered into a formal subscription contract of 46,000 shares in the Provo River Water Users Association.

So I love this is an old picture inviting the public to see miniature aqueduct and reservoir.

So the Deer Creek Project, another great quote from Fisher Harris.

He says, it represents an accomplishment without precedent and one of the and one the importance and significance of which cannot be exaggerated.

And I think if you talk to any other water provider, the Dare Creek Project is key, right?

It was the foundation one, and everyone wishes they were in our situation, probably.

So the reasons we participated in the Deer Creek Project, it provided a more water supply, a more affordable water supply than any prior effort, and it ensures sufficient capacity for the future.

They said it delivered water that was cleaner than the creek supplies.

We kind of know that with runoff, right?

There's no way to store it.

A reservoir allows that natural settling.

They said it's softer than groundwater, and its storage capacity was double the city's then current consumption, creating the resiliency that the city wanted to rely on.

So in 1938, Metro signed a construction and financing contract with the United States for the Salt Lake Aqueduct.

I love this.

It was a $5.5 million advancement to be paid in 40 annual installments without interest.

I want that deal.

They said the first by 1942, the first 9.1 miles of the pipeline had been completed.

So on the tour today, you'll be able to see a section of this pipeline.

But the amazing fact that we talked about is this is the pipeline that's still delivering water to the Salt Lake Valley.

We really consider it the backbone of water delivery, especially for the east bench of the valley.

Around the same time, there was the construction of the Deer Creek Dam and the reservoir.

That was all part of the Provo River Project.

The Provo River Water User Association was a local sponsor of the dam, and I know many of you are aware of the Deer Creek Intake Project, where they're rehabilitating that structure that was you know built in the 1940s and putting in a new intake, and that's that project is near near completion.

And that project will ensure the safe delivery of water from that reservoir.

During the 1950s brought the completion of the Salt Lake Aqueduct.

So there was it started construction, and because of the war, it there was a temporary pause that it started up again.

That finished in 1950, followed with the construction of terminal reservoir.

You recognize the picture up there, but this is the reservoir that's just off 215 in Mill Creek.

It's covered, so you don't necessarily see the innards, but this underground storage tank consisted of two cells, each with a storage capacity of 20 million gallons.

And this has since been replaced, and we'll I'll show that in a different slide.

But then in 1958 began the construction of the little Cottonwood Water Treatment Plant.

The plant was designed by John A.

Corello Engineering Company and was positioned in line with the Solik Aqueduct such that raw water could enter the plant and finished water could be transported from the plant to terminal reservoir.

The location at the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon created the opportunity to treat water from Little Cottonwood Creek or water that had been transported through the Salt Lake Aqueduct from Deer Creek Reservoir.

And after two years of construction, the plant became operational in June 1960.

So on this the tour shortly, you'll see that the flocculation, all of these flocculation and sedimentation basins are from the original.

And that's part of the concern.

In 1986, Metro entered into agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers, Salt Lake County and Salt Lake City to construct the Little Dell Dam and Reservoir, Little Dell Dam and Reservoir.

And at the same time, Metro finalized a petition to Central Utah for 20,000 acre feet of Central Utah Project Water.

And that the CUP water is stored in Jordan Reservoir and was purchased to meet the anticipated needs of Salt Lake City's Northwest Quadrant.

Okay, so we're back now to 1990.

But actually, May of I thought this was interesting.

I was reading through some minutes.

So in the May of 1980, Sandy City petitioned for annexation into Metro.

The petition was taken under advisement by the board.

However, they denied the petition the next month.

Salt Lake City had expressed concern about availability of water supplies.

And so as an outcome of that, Metro Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County Water Conservancy District, which is now Jordan Valley Water, they commissioned a valley-wide water supply and demand study.

So once that study was completed, ultimately Sandy City's petition was successful.

Sandy applied to the board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake City for annexation into the district through this resolution dated May 17, 1988.

And as Tom Godfrey previously stated, he was serving on the council at that time.

So the board here had to approve it.

It sounds like also Salt Lake City's council had to agree to that.

So based on our research of reading the 370-page document that talks about Sandy City's annexation, these were the reasons that Sandy determined they wanted to be part of the Metro water family.

Sandy City determined it with increasing water demand projections.

Sandy was seeking a solution to secure its water future.

The city decided acquiring additional water from other sources would be costly, and also sought to have their portion of their water rights in the Little Cottwood Creek treated at the Little Cottonwood water treatment plant.

And so by 1990, Sandy City joined our members cities, prompting us to change our name to the Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake and Sandy.

And we are the only metropolitan water district in Utah that represents more than one city.

There are some governing documents that we follow.

The first was the resolution from January of 1989.

This approved Sandy's annexation and it outlines some financial obligations for the district as well as Sandy City.

There's several interlocal agreements, quite a few that were signed in February of 1990.

Some of them were talking about the makeup of the board.

Others are talking about a boundary agreement saying either city can't annex other cities into your water, into your city.

So a lot of those agreements.

And then in 2001, there was an interlocal agreement relating to capacity capital improvements in new water supplies.

So the the sixth the resolution from 1633 talks about just maintaining current infrastructure or non-capacity projects.

Well, in 2000, we started considering a new plant, a new pipeline, and so there was an ILA that addressed how does that function then.

How did the cities decide how much each pays if it's a new capacity?

So I thought this was just interesting, some of the information.

So for Sandy to annex into the district, there they had to pay $6.4 million investment to the Parley's water treatment plant.

There was a $2,000 payment to Metro for some modifications to Little Cottwood Creek well and Richard's Ditch well.

And then part of the resolution says that through property taxes and water rates, Sandy City would pay for operations, maintain maintenance, and non-capacity capital improvements in metro facilities.

So that's where it ties in.

So this was the first capacity capital project, the point of the mountain water treatment plant.

Hey, who's that?

So we're building a new plant that was a capacity project.

That's the plant in Draper.

We did actually also make modifications to this plant, improved its capacity by 30 million gallons and went from 120 to 150 million gallons.

We have this point of the mountain aqueduct that was installed that connects the point of the mountain water treatment plant with this plant.

So you probably know the name of that school.

Don't in Sandy Albion, okay.

Albion.

And then these are some of the non-capacity cabal projects.

So again, we showed that earlier slide of terminal reservoir being constructed in 1950.

So we embarked on a five-year project to replace that reservoir.

It no longer met seismic standards, and we knew if the earth shaked everyone in Mill Creek west of that reservoir would be flooded.

So that project was completed in 2017.

Um we have the little little cotton water treatment plant rebuild.

We're currently just in the basis of design.

We've hired an engineer, and that should be completed by June of 2026, and then we'll start going through design and that whole process.

Some future projects would be salt lake hardening.

So is there a way that we can slip line this current salt lake aqueduct so that it wouldn't pull apart in an earthquake?

And then there's the salt lake aqueduct replacement reaches two and three, which would I think this one, some of you are familiar with Salt Lake Aqueduct Reach One is what we're calling the Cottonwoods Connection.

It's a pipeline that's currently in construction right now.

Um this is they're in um that was on Creek, you know, Deer Creek Road over here.

They're putting in that pipeline.

This is the one we had for our groundbreaking.

Um so that one's expected to be completed by like a year from now in October.

I don't know if maybe future and I found this one sharky.

I just I was looking for mine, I'm like, oh, even better as any.

So that's a parallel pipeline to our Salt Lake Aqueduct because we can't take down a pipeline without having another one, and then this one is all steel.

It will serve you know survive an earthquake, and that's what we're looking for, right?

To have that reliable water supply.

So this is a slide I just wanted to go over the water sources that Sandy City has access to, of course, the Provo River project.

So I included the slide on Little Dell because it said it had 7940 acre feet of water.

That facility, there's no way to get water from that facility to Salt Lake City.

So the plan was that would become Salt Lake City water, and in exchange, Sandy City would have access to 7,940 acre feet from the Provera River project.

Um then we have your little Cottonwood Creek rights, and then also um I don't remember the year for Ontario Drain Tunnel.

I meant to look that up, but on average we get about 2766.

I think it's so pretty if you've ever gone up there.

That's the water coming out of the tunnel right at the east.

Thank you.

Yeah, really pretty.

Some of the other water sources, like I mentioned, we have the Central Utah Project, Central Utah Project Utah Lake System, which is strawberry water, and then Bell Canyon, but that's Sandy City water, and if they it's a decision if they want us to treat it here or not.

Or I think you've been using it for recharge, is that right?

Or I don't for sure on Bell Canyon.

And then the agreement with the Great Salt Lake Trust also.

Yeah, do you want to speak to that, Tom?

Or I'll give out simply as Annaly mentioned, that's preferentially 2766 acre fee.

A couple of unique things about that water.

One, Metro sells it to uh mill special service district.

They serve water up there in the basin, and the contract requires something.

Shane was uh instrumentalizing us.

We sell they have a requirement to put all that water back into the proper river so we get it back again.

And Annalie and uh her team just finished getting an agreement with the Great Salt Lake Trust where they're paying Sandy.

If we don't use that water, then we can shepherd the Great Salt Lake at the end of next year if things stay the way we hope we should get a check back from the trust on contribute to the Great Salt Lake.

Yeah, it's not available, we need it.

It doesn't really great salt lake, but that's in place.

So I think those are a couple of unique things about it being uh unique to Sandy with Metro.

And I think the other part of that is Sandy had a chance to buy it independently, Shane is telling me.

But by having Metro by it allows more flexibility in overall management and other things.

So we're paying uh service on that $15 million.

I think we're 15.5.

Actually, $13.5.

And that comes off, I think in about six or seven years.

Yeah, I have a slide on perfect.

No.

Yeah, so that's that's a uh we were able to participate in the Great Salt Lake Commission's been trying to get entities to shepherd water to the Great Salt Lake, and this is one in working with Sandy City and Tom and her stuff.

Felt like that would be a good water supply that we could shepherd there.

And it's from a different, it's it's water that wouldn't make it to the Great Salt Lake otherwise, and that's kind of what they're looking for, right?

But for Metro, our whole water supply is on a full year would be about 1087 acre feet.

So these are just a couple, just slides, maybe you're familiar, but this just shows the dark blue is water that we provide to we deliver to Sandy City.

The light blue is your own wells, your own water use.

So one thing to note like 2021 was the drought, so obviously people were driving more from their wells then.

Um in 2023, we had a really wet year, so there was abundance of surface water, so we're not using well.

So there's a story behind every chart.

And this one just shows compared to last year to this year, and you know, Sandy started from Metro again.

This is just our water supply, they were using less, but then with the hot temperatures that we experience in the dry summer, um Sandy used more than they had the previous year, like from July through August.

Now it's gone wet.

So the next one I just thought I thought maybe you want to know well, how much are we paying for water compared to if we were with another with Jordan Valley still, right?

So I went to Jordan Valley's website and pulled off their router rates for the current fiscal year.

And they have a lot of member cities, right?

We just have Salt Lake City and Sandy, they have several.

So this is what they charge.

This is just for water delivery of water, they also have assessments that they charge, but I compared that to what Sandy is paying if we estimated how much water Sandy was going to take from us next year.

So we our budget is 12 million 206022.

We're anticipating that Sandy's gonna take almost 19,000 acre feet, then it's about $645 an acre foot.

So just to comparison, so again, this was just rough math, but just kind of an idea that the the rate that you're paying to Metro is very competitive compared to what you know Jordan Valley's charging its member city.

So I don't know if there's any I just thought it might be interesting.

Um and then kind of what just Tom was talking about.

The your current commit commitments, you are paying for that Ontario Drain tunnel water assessment, but that does end in the last payments in 2031.

So currently it's about 1.1 million per year.

Um, and then the Metro Water Project, that one will be finished in 2036.

Um the last payment is 2.1 million, but your current was for right now is 4.2 million.

So those will be dropping off.

They do have an end date.

Um future commitments that we're looking at.

I think we've discussed with you the property taxes.

We're look wanted to be looking at those every three years.

So we currently have in our cash flow a proposed uh increase to the certified tax rate in fiscal year 28 and 2030, uh 2031.

You recall when we did it a couple years ago, we increased the certified tax rate to 00035.

It's you know eroded since then to 00037, and then we have projected water rate increases of 6% in fiscal year 27 and 28, and then 29 at a 7%.

Again, that's paying for all these capital projects.

So, what are we looking for in the next 10 years?

We have completion of the Cottonwoods Connection project, this reach one.

Uh the little Cottonwood water treatment plant rebuild, and then also we have a project called Raw Water Little Cottwood Conduit Replacement Project, and it's a pipeline that we're looking at to bring water from Little Cottwood Creek into our plant.

Currently, we rely on Maurice City's pipeline to bring it in.

So if their pipelines ever down, then we don't really have access to our both the year cities full allotment of water, and so that's a project to make the delivery of that little Cottwood Creek water into our plant.

And also in 10 years, we'll hit 100 years.

So that'll be great.

That's my last slide.

Are there any questions I can answer before we go toward the plant?

It was hard to summarize 90 years.

Isn't it true that uh by contract Shane can't retire until the Ontario drain tunnel is paid off?

Just one point on the Ontario.

The reason why the city didn't buy it themselves was a city once it requires a water right can't divest itself even voluntarily of that water right.

The water districts can't.

And so we felt that was the best approach in the future if that water became unnecessary, then Metro could divest itself of that water right and provide that credit back to Sandy City.

Water district water district, which is different different than the Jordan Conservancy District that had all of those city members.

Yeah.

What's the difference between what is a conservancy district versus a water district?

That's a great question.

I I I haven't dived into it deep, but my understanding is that one of their goals, well, ours is just water supply, they also have to focus on conservation.

Do you have it?

Do you have something to add on to that document?

The water conservancy districts like Jordan Valley, Probo River, Central Utah, those are under a different statute, have different some different purposes.

When the uh Metropolitan Water District Act put in, it was originally just single city.

So there are a couple of other three or four other mega shame homes, two or four other uh metropolitan water districts, metropolitan water of Provo, Metropolitan Forum, Metropolitan Fork.

There are in the Provo River Water Users Association, they own shares, but they're a single city.

So we went for organizations, really.

Those two are kind of paper organizations now.

Yeah.

So when we went through the tax increase process, you folks had to review the property tax increase.

In the other Metropolitan Water Districts, it doesn't apply to them because specifically the statute says that each of the district or each of the cities has to approve if the trustees are not directly elected if they're appointed by the city.

But in this case, the two cities.

Yeah, there are it's a totally different statute.

It's a totally separate structure under the legislature.

Benefits they can also have retail customers, conservancy districts.

We don't have any retail.

Um but to John's point, they have a their property tax, it's more statutory, they can only raise to 0004.

Metropolitan water districts can go to a 0005.

They do have to implement conservation methods.

That's why so many of them have conservation gardens, or they do local escapes, or they they pay for flipping your strip.

That's something we don't do.

We support Sandy City and Salt Lake City in their efforts, and we do some funding, but we're not near as engaged as the conservancy districts are.

Thank you.

I don't think we answered about your retirement question with the ODT, but we're not going to be able to do that.

I do have to say one other thing.

When Sandy City was acquiring the Ontario Grand Tunnel, Shane and I went underground in the Ontario Grand Tunnel.

We're both tall, and sometimes that was a little challenging.

Yeah, the hell would look very good when we got out of the other questions.

I was trying to think of what you would have questions about.

Hopefully, I answered those, but um we're we're excited to show you the plan and really the things that we're looking we're noticing now and why we're initiated, and I understand this is an expensive project and why there's a need to do it now and not kick it down the road another 10-20 years.

So we do have some golf cards that will take you around to the different areas.

Is everyone going to go?

Absolutely.

Okay.

Can you explain really quick to the council?

Because I think this this will either come up in the future with our now.

Um the little Cottonwood Treatment Plan uh rebuild is bumped up because of Salt Lake City delaying the the uh big problem, the big cottonwood treatment plan.

And so they were kind of they were calling a flip, but they were flipped for purpose landing.

You kind of talked a little about purpose.

I think that's important for you here.

Of the rebuild now?

Yes, the rebuild now versus later after the little bit of cotton treatment plan.

Yeah, great question.

So I think they were supposed to start it actually maybe a couple years ago.

So I don't know that we're necessarily delaying the rebuild of ours.

It's just now we are rebuilding before them.

The idea is though we don't want to have two water treatment plants down at the same time.

And that's true for any of the valley.

We would coordinate with Jordan Valley because we have relationships with them or other Salt Lake City water treatment plants.

So they were supposed to start theirs sooner.

We always had ours on the schedule to come sometime, but when you experience as a city when people conserve, they had less revenue and they couldn't pay for that project.

Then we decided, okay, well, now it's gonna flip.

Before they were gonna do theirs first and then ours.

Now we're still doing ours, but they're gonna wait till after the Olympics to start on their program.

So our project, our goal is to be done before the Olympics start.

We don't want to have construction when everyone's coming to our canyons to see the events.

Then there'll be a break, and then they're gonna rebuild their plant.

Fun fact.

When you were doing the history at the very beginning, so I'm I have a 1937 Chevy business coupe.

And so I was thinking about so she her original owner was a nurse in Daggett County, and I was thinking she was driving this car, like in 1938, 1940, like the early days that you were, and it just sort of was like I don't know, it just made the history more tangible.

Yeah, yeah.

So Mabel is my car's neighborhood.

That's the nurse, the nurse that owned her was named Mabel.

Oh, that was awesome.

So I'm just thinking of all of the things that the car has seen, she could have very well been driving.

That's amazing.

Like it's almost 100 years.

Yes, that's in that's she's still on the road, still on the road.

Annaline, can I maybe just add yeah, and I'm gonna spring off the 1936.

Um when uh one of the elements of history as we're talking about the formation of metropolitan water district, because I understand that Tom correct me if I have this wrong, Salt Lake City did not have the bonding capacity to do a project that huge.

And so this the just the state law allowed for the creation of a new entity that had independent bonding capacity, contracting ability with the federal government.

And I was telling Annalie, I was trying to find this picture that I've seen before.

The governor of Utah was standing with the mayor of Salt Lake City in 1935, Great Depression, the Dust Bowl era on a dry Utah lake bed.

So here they are bonding beyond anyone's wildest imaginations in the throes of the depression for the most important resource that is now fueled a hundred almost a hundred years of economic growth here in the state.

And some of the facilities that Annaly mentioned, like the Prover River system and the Deer Creek Reservoir, not just Sandy and Salt Lake, but the entire Wasatch front benefits from those resources.

The flip side of that, I take you from that, where they were spending a lot of money encumbering generations for something extremely important.

We're now having to replace that infrastructure, and as I mentioned before, it's not insignificant, it is huge.

Having a separate district, so Tom and John and Florence and their colleagues have some independence from you to make sure that gets done without the other cons, you know, other issues that go on in running a city, um, but yet an accountability to the city council on the taxing authority.

And I think is Annaly and I were talking, and and I've heard Tom say this having this relationship so that you understand what they do, how important it is, and that you feel comfortable asking those questions so you feel comfortable supporting the important things.

And certainly we would love that you ask the question to make us make sure we're thinking about the best solutions for for Sandy and Salt Lake.

Um, and I think it's very unique in Utah and elsewhere.

We have these two of the major metropolitan cities really anchoring the Salt Lake County area.

The other part that Annalise group does is when there's extra water between Sandy and Salt Lake, sometimes our water rights are too much.

You can go to Salt Lake City, so it benefits them.

There are times when Salt Lake City's water rights are more than they can consume, and Sandy benefits from that.

And then George Metropolitan Water, if Sandy and Salt Lake City are not using that water, they're sharing it and working with Jordan Valley and others to make sure it has a good need and purpose.

And that would be Salt Lake as a new customer.

So I just it's a it's a real beautiful thing, it's very important, and you're um you're representatives of Sandy City, you know, on top of our trustees.

That this relationship is huge.

I think uh so that when Metro comes to you on about tax issues, we talk about our water rates and stuff.

Um certainly we want you to have questions, but at least we built the trust and the relationships and uh share at least a bit of the information.

So I as you go through, I guess leading in.

Oh, yeah, I have some maps that I really have found valuable for the 25 or 30 years I've worked on water in Utah.

Um it's a map of the metro systems, and it speaks to the breadth of the facilities that we have a ownership stake in.

And we're not um mentors we're owners.

And I have this is a map that they prepare that has all of their facilities.

So you have the um uh Jordan L Reservoir, which has mentioned 20,000 acre feet, 20% of Metro's annual supply, Deer Creek Reservoir, and then the red line and the orange, there's an orange line and a blue line.

Um, those are the aqueducts, and I guess the last piece, the one that Annalise handing out, I zoomed in on Sandy, because you see here we're right here, right in the middle of here's Metro's resources, including Salt Lake City's little Capua Creek.

We're right central to it was just a beautiful you know marriage of uh resources and interests and needs, and so with collaboration.

So this is the zoomed out version, the complete one.

That one zoomed in because I can't see things without glasses, and mediators are the same way.

So I give you one other fun fact.

I can remember my dad taking me around Deer Creek when it was totally dry, and telling you someday this is going to be full of water, and I can remember going up and fishing when it first filled with water.

So I've been around for a while related to the dirt.

All right, well, let's head outside and council members find a golf cart and a reliable driver.

Can we be going to be able to do that?

Oh, yeah.

I'll test that, but we're having operational incident.

That's what Mark's not over here yet.