Utah Regulators Review Tooele Wastewater Permit Tied to Inland Port Development
A pending Tooele County permit could authorize up to 0.26 million gallons per day of concentrated reverse-osmosis wastewater toward Great Salt Lake wetlands and Gilbert Bay.
Utah regulators heard two hours of public testimony July 27 on a pending permit that could authorize a Tooele County water-treatment plant to discharge concentrated reverse-osmosis wastewater toward the Great Salt Lake.
More than 100 people attended the hearing held by the Utah Division of Water Quality. Opponents outnumbered supporters in testimony, raising concerns about water quality, wetlands, migratory-bird habitat, public health, the lake’s declining condition and possible future data-center growth.
The hearing was not a vote or final agency action. The Division of Water Quality must review the written and oral comments, the draft permit and the administrative record before the agency issues a final permit decision.
What the proposed permit would allow
The applicant is the Tooele Valley Public Infrastructure District, or TVPID. The proposed facility is the TVPID RO Water Treatment Plant, identified in state records under UPDES permit number UT0026409.
The plant would be located near the Burmester I-80 interchange in Tooele County. According to the state’s permit notice, it would treat groundwater to provide potable water for a newly organized Inland Port development intended to serve warehouse distribution centers, data centers and commercial facilities.
Reverse-osmosis treatment would produce a concentrated reject stream. The draft permit would authorize continuous discharge of up to 0.26 million gallons per day through an existing drainage channel. The proposed route runs through unclassified waters and transitional waters toward Gilbert Bay of the Great Salt Lake.
Because the discharge would be new, the state also included a Level II antidegradation review in the public-comment process. The permit notice identifies the wastewater as concentrated reverse-osmosis reject water and directs the public to the draft permit and fact sheet for technical details.
Why the hearing drew attention
The proposed plant is tied to a larger Inland Port development, not an approved data center. KSL reported that it was unclear whether a specific data-center project has been proposed for the site or whether the business park is promoting its ability to host one in the future.
That distinction matters. The permit record describes a development involving warehouses, data centers and commercial facilities, but the July 27 hearing did not establish that a particular data center has been approved or definitively committed to the location.
At the hearing, residents and conservation advocates raised concerns about the proposed discharge’s effects on wetlands and the lake’s southern shore. They also questioned the composition of the concentrated wastewater and the potential effects of additional industrial development in an area facing water scarcity and habitat pressures.
Those were public comments and concerns, not final findings by the Division of Water Quality. The agency has not concluded that the discharge would contaminate the lake, harm wildlife, deplete an aquifer or create public-health effects.
How Utah’s data-center policy fits
The permit review is taking place soon after Gov. Spencer Cox issued Executive Order 2026-03 on May 29. The order created a statewide Data Center Framework and directed covered executive-branch agencies to follow it in matters related to data centers.
The framework calls for protecting the Great Salt Lake and other water resources, ensuring that water consumption is not increased and protecting water quality. It also addresses wildlife impacts, utility ratepayers, energy infrastructure and transparent, meaningful opportunities for public comment.
The order does not automatically approve or block the TVPID permit. Instead, it provides statewide policy context for how executive agencies are expected to evaluate data-center-related development and its effects on water, wildlife, utilities and communities.
The Legislature also passed H.B. 76, the Data Center Water Transparency Amendments, during the 2026 session. The law directs land-use authorities to issue certain notices before approving a new large data center. It also requires certain large data centers to notify their water provider and submit reports to the Division of Water Rights before construction and annually after operations begin. The law includes disclosure and enforcement provisions.
H.B. 76 does not decide the TVPID wastewater permit. Its relevance is that it establishes a broader state policy of notice, reporting and public access around water use by certain large data centers.
What happens next
The Division of Water Quality’s extended public notice set the written-comment deadline at the close of business July 27, 2026. It says all comments will be considered in making the final decision and answered as required by Utah administrative rules.
The director of the Division of Water Quality will issue the final permit decision after reviewing the comments and administrative record. Until that decision is issued, the plant is not cleared to discharge.
Residents tracking the project should look for the final permit decision, the agency’s responses to public comments and any changes to the draft discharge limits or conditions in the Division of Water Quality’s UPDES records.
The decision will provide an early test of how Utah applies its new data-center framework to a development that combines industrial growth, groundwater treatment and a proposed discharge route toward the Great Salt Lake.
Sources
- Utah Division of Water Quality public hearing notice and comment-period extension
- Utah News Dispatch report republished by KPCW
- Utah Executive Order 2026-03
- Utah Legislature 2026 passed-legislation summary
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