Cache County leaders and state water regulators met to discuss whether the county should tighten rules for new subdivisions amid repeated reports of wells going dry, rising nitrate tests, and limited emergency water supplies.

Nolan, the planning-and-zoning liaison who convened the session, said the county faces large new subdivisions while lacking tools to refuse projects that meet technical standards. "We don't have the ability to say no even though things tell us that maybe it's not the best way for us to grow," he said, urging an "open dialogue" about size thresholds, water and septic options, and safety conditions.

The meeting brought technical context from Cameron Draney of the Utah Division of Drinking Water, who said a key legal trigger already exists: "as soon as you hit 8 connections ... that would be considered a public water system," subjecting a development to the division's administrative-code rules for public systems. Draney also explained source-protection zones for wells (a zone 1 100-foot radius and a longer time-of-travel zone that can extend hundreds of feet depending on geology) and cautioned that septic systems near a public well can be restricted depending on the hydrogeology.

Representative Casey Snyder (Fifth District) cautioned that relying on a patchwork of small, private water systems has produced lengthy litigation elsewhere and said counties can use their subdivision standards to require municipal hookups or other conditions at higher densities. "I think the Snyderville Basin history is a very good lesson on why we should not do that," Snyder said, describing long-term costs borne by local governments when private systems and companies failed.

County legal staff said the county can choose numeric triggers to require heightened standards. Andrew, from the Cache County Attorney's Office, recommended subject-matter collaboration before drafting ordinance language: "If the county wanted to say, pick whatever number that is, 5, 3, or 10, or whatever, have that be the trigger for these additional requirements? We can certainly look into that."

Fire and emergency responders urged requirements for two points of access and on-site water supplies or hydrants for larger rural subdivisions. Fire Chief Jason described limits in personnel and water for rural wildland-interface areas and asked that code address secondary egress and on-site fire-suppression resources.

Participants discussed several specific policy options raised during the meeting:
- Interim numeric cap: council members and staff debated keeping the current moratorium level (cited in the meeting as five lots) versus raising an interim cap to seven lots to align better with the eight-connection public-water threshold discussed by the Division of Drinking Water. Several officials said a seven-lot interim cap would reduce the most acute near-term risks while staff draft more comprehensive code changes.
- Shared systems and governance: speakers agreed that shared water or wastewater systems require a stable managing entity (for example, a special service district) rather than an ordinary HOA, to ensure operation, annual permitting and inspection and long-term maintenance.
- Advanced on-site systems: county health and DEQ staff discussed advanced treatment systems as one tool; these systems can be installed for individual homes or as community systems but will increase operational costs and require regular inspection.
- Proximity to municipalities/annexation guidance: staff proposed defining RU-2 and RU-5 allowances to include distance or contiguity criteria (for example, requiring RU-2 splits within a set distance of municipal boundaries) so applicants and staff have predictable expectations before expensive engineering work is completed.
- Developer assurances: participants discussed bonds or other financial guarantees and billing structures so costs of bringing failing private systems up to standard do not automatically fall to county taxpayers.

Officials also noted a $500,000 groundwater aquifer study funded through the legislature and the Utah Geological Survey/USU that staff expect to inform long-term policy. Senator Chris Wilson said the study's results will help identify where groundwater is abundant or limited and should inform any permanent code changes.

Next steps agreed at the meeting include drafting ordinance language on RU-2/RU-5 triggers, proximity-to-municipality criteria, an interim subdivision-size cap (with staff discussion around a seven-lot interim limit to align with the eight-connection threshold), and additional meetings with fire, health, DEQ and municipal representatives before the council's moratorium expires in January. Planning staff also flagged an upcoming Planning Commission agenda item on proposed changes to septic-system rules (allowing certain alternative wastewater systems in zone 2) that could feed the ordinance work.

The meeting produced no final vote; staff and the county attorney will draft specific code language and convene follow-up sessions for technical input and stakeholder review.