The Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District (JVWCD) is requesting a permit to discharge byproduct from a reverse osmosis treatment plant into Gilbert Bay of the Great Salt Lake.

JVWCD plans to use reverse osmosis to treat groundwater contaminated by mining operations. The reverse osmosis concentrate, which is high in selenium and other contaminants, would be discharged directly into the Great Salt Lake via a 21-mile long pipeline if the permit is approved. See KSL's recent coverage of this issue.

After considering public comments, the Utah Water Quality Board may execute the permit, revise it, or abandon it. Please see the fact sheet for more information.

UPDATE May 26, 2010:

The draft permit release for public comment has been delayed due to uncertainty regarding the mercury concentrations in deep wells and the undisclosed discharge of shallow groundwater to the Jordan River.

On April 28, 2010, JVWCD submitted a draft UPDES permit application. The draft application included information on the discharge to the Jordan River, which will occur most days of the year and will only contain groundwater from the shallow wells. The application also includes Level II Antidegradation Reviews for Outfall 001 to Gilbert Bay of the Great Salt Lake and Outfall 002 to the Jordan River.

Once JVWCD has submitted a final permit application to the DWQ, the draft UPDES permit for the project will be finalized and the 60 day public comment period will begin.

Once the comment period begins, comments may be submitted to:

Kim Shelley
Division of Water Quality
PO Box 144870
Salt Lake City, UT 84114
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