SALT LAKE CITY — In his decade as the state engineer, Kent Jones was inarguably one of the most powerful yet anonymous men in Utah government.
His decisions even reached beyond the confines of the geographical boundaries of Utah, the tendrils of his influence touching the resources of the West’s winding Colorado River and Bear Lake’s aquamarine water the state shares with Idaho.
Jones decided who had a lawful right to water, who had lawful right to change its point of diversion, and who was using the water or had forfeited that right because it hadn’t been put to practical use.
He retired last week after 39 years with the Utah Division of Water Rights and said he enjoyed every minute of his controversial, complicated career that often landed him in a courtroom defending his decisions, and at one point, the recipient of death threats over the diversion of water for a proposed nuclear power plant.
“It’s been the best 39 years ever,” he said, a wide-open, sparkling smile overtaking his entire being. “I’ve really enjoyed it.”
You can tell he’s sincere.
Jones is a quiet, serious, straight-forward type of man and he tends to listen for a long while before he speaks.
On this day, however, on his last day in his office before he leaves for a Mexico vacation, he openly plunges into the details of a career that has had a profound impact on Utah’s water world.
He figures since he’s held the state-appointed position, there have been 90 changes to Utah’s water law in 11 legislative sessions.
It’s a complicated and controversial role he’s handled, balancing the demands of lawmakers, court rulings, irrigation companies, farmers, residents and multimillion-dollar water districts who all have a stake in one of the most precious natural resources — water.
“The biggest challenge is helping people understand this is a shared resource,” Jones said. “You can only use what you are allowed. Even if it is on your property, it is not your water.”
Water is a “public” resource in Utah, with “rights” to use it handed down in some cases generation after generation and traded with a handshake. Water rights in Utah existed before there was even formal statehood.
Jones, as state engineer, decides the lawfulness of those rights, exercising an authority granted to him under Utah law that often left him in uncomfortable, controversial and angry situations.
“There are angry people all over this state,” he said. “I am probably the most sued state employee in Utah, but we prevailed in court 95% of the time.”
If he has made enemies along the way, he’s not saying.
“I really like to listen to people’s concerns, both positive and negative. You can’t be quickly reactive. It is important to let people speak their minds.”
Jones began his career with the division in 1981. While with the division, he served in various roles, including assistant regional engineer for Utah Lake/Jordan River, regional engineer for the Weber River and West Desert before his appointment to state engineer in 2009 by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.
He was a hearing officer for the division for 21 years and most recently, in his role as state engineer, was the technical adviser for the Utah Water Task Force and on Gov. Gary Herbert’s water strategy team.
When he approved a water diversion for a planned nuclear power plant in Green River, Jones had to defend his decision in a lengthy trial and received death threats.
His application of Utah law was ultimately upheld in the courts and the controversial project that stoked so much opposition is now in limbo.
Matt Pacenza, former executive director of HEAL Utah, challenged Jones over that decision on the nuclear power plant water and battled him in court.
“He was very polite and informed,” he said. “With that said, it never made a lick of sense to give a nuclear power plant all that water, but he was very professional.”
Over the years, Jones defended his office’s groundwater pumping moratoriums and helped craft plans to get communities back on track so they can use the water.
In a state that averages 88 days of rainfall per year and is ranked the second driest in the nation, when Jones says a property owner can’t pump water from a well or siphon water from an adjacent stream for a parched field of crops, there’s going to be trouble.
But Warren Peterson, a member of the Utah Water Task Force and vice president of Farmland Reserve, said Jones had a calming influence in those tough situations.
“He is a master at de-escalating conflict,” said Peterson, one of the state’s most experienced water attorneys. “Kent did have to make some unpopular decisions, such as the Green River nuclear plant change application. He had the ability, however, to make the decisions by following the law rather than getting caught up in the public clamor. “
The office also came under criticism at some point over access, and who had the ear and attention of the state engineer, Peterson said.
“Kent had a clear rule about who he would talk to: anyone who asked,” Peterson said.
Under Jones’ tenure, the office was engaged in the process of determining the validity of water rights across the Jordan River/Utah Lake region. With slim staff and limited resources, Jones told the governor the laborious process would take 150 years to complete — it’s that complicated.
Herbert, with the support of Utah Legislature, kicked in additional money and more staffing and streamlined what’s called the adjudication process.
Jones now figures it can be done within 20 years, which means it will be sooner, rather than later, to actually determine how much water is where, who owns it and who is using it.
That function of the state engineer and the Utah Division of Water Rights is critical as Utah’s population is expected to nearly double by 2050, and everyone will want a sip at the tap.
Jones said there are far more rights to water than the water that actually exists, meaning the state’s water resources are over-appropriated.
It is a reckoning that Utah’s political leaders will someday have to face, and while his job as state engineer is behind him, Jones’ worries over water resources are far from retired.
“There is a real need to keep water going to the Great Salt Lake,” he said. “Most all of that water is appropriated. What farmer are you going to tell to stop farming? What city are going to do away with?”
There’s a reason there is a saying in the West that “whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting,” and Jones has been in and seen his share of fights in Utah and elsewhere.
Peterson said Jones never flinched.
“Kent is the quintessential public servant. He humbly and gently performed his duties, but with a firmness and honesty that held everyone to a high standard.”
Jones’ decisions over water have dashed the dreams of many, to be sure, and prompted plentiful lawsuits.
He said he doesn’t look at it from the glass half empty perspective, however, because the law is behind him, and the law demands equity in the complicated world of water.
“I think we are making a lot of people happy. They have dreams of the things they want to do and we fulfill those dreams by approving their water rights. We are making sure no one is impacting anyone else’s dreams by taking their water supply.”
His recommendation for his successor, however?
“I think someone in this position needs to be mild-mannered.”
A search for that successor is ongoing.