Moab council weighs water conservation, flood mitigation and zoning changes
Moab's council is pairing a water-conservation workshop with clinic zoning, utility aid and flood cash, a sign the town is bracing for drought, floods and growth at once.
Water conservation opens the Moab City Council’s June 23 meeting, followed by votes on a clinic zoning change, utility-bill assistance, a $2,517,692.63 flood-mitigation match, and wildfire agreements.
Water savings at the top of the agenda
The council will begin with a workshop on the city’s next water-conservation plan. The city’s 2025-2026 strategic plan added a resilience pillar centered on preparedness and response to extreme weather and flooding.
A clinic use change aims to fit health care into neighborhood commercial space
Ordinance 2026-11 would add “medical clinic” as a permitted use in the C-5 Neighborhood Commercial zone. The request came from Arches New Hope Pregnancy Center, which has operated in Moab for 22 years and wants to expand limited outpatient services from its existing building. The Planning Commission reviewed the text amendment on June 11.
Arches New Hope says its clinic is open about 12 hours a week by appointment and compares its traffic to a small office or arts-and-crafts shop. The center’s own materials describe it as a free women’s health clinic offering unplanned-pregnancy services, including free consultations, ultrasound referrals, abortion information, testing and related support. It lists its Moab address as 205 S 400 E, Moab, Utah 84532.
Utility aid moves from pilot to permanent policy
The council is set to decide whether to make the Residential Utility Assistance Program permanent instead of letting the current pilot expire on June 30. The program was established by Ordinance 2024-06 on November 12, 2024, and it began January 1, 2025. After two extensions, it is now being pushed out of pilot status and into ongoing city policy.
The program provides monthly credits to income-qualified homeowners and renters inside city limits, including some customers billed through the Grand Water and Sewer Service Agency. It is first-come, first-served, and the proposed permanent version keeps the $75,000 funding line for FY2026-2027. The city packet shows the pilot spent $8,320 last fiscal year.
Flood cash and wildfire agreements show the resilience shift
A consent-agenda item would commit the city to a proposed 25% local match of about $2,517,692.63 in cash for the 300 South bridge flood-mitigation project if the federal Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant is funded. The local match would be available July 1. The city’s 2025-2026 strategic plan includes a resilience pillar focused on preparedness and response to extreme weather and flooding.
Utah’s Cooperative Wildfire System, administered by the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, coordinates prevention, preparedness, mitigation, initial attack and extended-attack cost responsibilities on non-federal lands. Moab Valley Fire Protection District has historically participated in the system for the Moab area, and one of the June 23 items is an interlocal agreement that formally designates Moab Valley Fire Department as Moab’s provider for municipal fire protection services while supporting the city’s CWS obligations.
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