Last year the city of Richfield, Utah used 800,000,000 gallons of culinary water. The Sufco Mine pumped out over 2,000,000,000 gallons of water. That is based on the, mine reported, rate of 3,900 gallons a minute (2009 report). The problem is that not one drop of the water being pumped out of the mine is going into Sevier County. The water ends up in the Colorado River, Lake Powell and down to California. How can the mountain survive?
Sufco Mine Water
3900 GPM x 60 = 234,000 Gallons Per Hour
234,000 GPH x 24 = 5,616,000 Gallons Per Day
5,616,000 GPD x 365 = 2,049,840,000 Gallons Per Year
There are 325,518 gallons in an acre ft. 2,049,840,000 / 325,518 = 6,295.95 ac. ft of water!
It costs at least $30 an ac. ft to lease water. The value of the water we are giving away comes to at least: 6,295.95 x $30 = $188,878.35!
