Pineview Lake
Will Utah Run Out of Water? By Richard Markosian
P
aul Nielson is a fourth-generation
have any worries over water.” But this
farmer in Perry, Utah who has
year, Tagge says, “I’m worried.”
all my years of farming it has never been
taking all of his orchards off of flood
this bad,” he observes. Nielson serves on
irrigation and switching to drip
the Weber-Box (Weber County/Box Elder
irrigation. The USDA offered farmers a
Water Conservation Board of Directors,
grant to pay for the entire amount. Five
which controls the outflow of water from
years ago he was the only farmer in Perry
Pineview Reservoir. With Pineview being
to make the shift to drip, but today it’s
at its lowest level in years, some drastic
about 75% of farmers. ‘It’s really great to
measures need to take place. The Board
see,” says Tagge.
personally been at it for fifty years. “In
has already sent a notice to the residents
About eight years ago, Tagge began
Drip irrigation uses about 70% less
of Perry, who rely on Pineview water
water than flood irrigation, and allows
for their secondary water, that unless
farmers to save a huge amount of their
residents agree to major conservation
water shares, so everyone is better off. But
efforts, their water might be shut off by
Tagge says that some farmers just don’t
August 1st.
want to make the shift. Right next door
Thayne Tagge also operates a farm in
to Tagge is runoff from the neighboring
Perry that relies on Pineview water. He
orchard, with water spilling over into
bought his first orchard in 1998, and says
Tagge’s parking lot and going down a
that when he purchased the property, the
drain. “It would take about one hour with
former owner laughingly said, “With this
a backhoe to fix that,” he says.
orchard, and this water, you will never
18 | utahstories.com
I followed Tagge around his farm
