PERMIT NO. 493 OGDEN, UT
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CITY NEWS
AUGUST 2026
Ogden to lower Pineview Reservoir for major drinking water pipeline project For many in Northern Utah, Pineview Reservoir is synonymous with summer. Families spend weekends on the water, anglers cast their lines before sunrise, and businesses rely on visitors enjoying one of the region’s most popular recreation destinations. During the tail end of summer and early fall, Pineview Reservoir will be lowered to allow crews to replace a critical section of the 36inch culinary water pipeline that delivers roughly half of Ogden’s drinking water. “This is one of the most important pieces of culinary water infrastructure our community has,” said Ogden Public Services Executive Director Justin Anderson. “If that pipeline were to fail unexpectedly, the impacts wouldn’t just affect a few neighborhoods. It would affect homes, businesses, hospitals and schools across our community.”
The pipeline is showing its age. Portions of the pipeline are more than 90 years old, while the section beneath Pineview Reservoir has remained underwater for more than 55 years without ever being exposed for inspection or major repairs. Over time, that aging infrastructure has developed leaks, allowing approximately a million of gallons of water to escape every day. During one of the driest years on record, city officials say recovering that water and protecting the system for the future has become even more critical. The replacement project has been planned for years and was originally scheduled for 2027. However, this year’s historic low snowpack meant Pineview Reservoir was already expected to reach unusually low levels. Rather than refill the reservoir only to draw it down
This fall, Ogden City is replacing a culinary pipeline under Pineview Reservoir. again next year, Ogden City and its regional partners determined this year offered the best opportunity to complete the work while avoiding two consecutive years of low
water levels. “We’re doing the work in such a way that it will be sustainable for the city for hundreds of years to come,” said Ogden City Public Services
Executive Director Justin Anderson. “This was originally scheduled for next year, but the historically low snowpack has naturally brought us alSee PIPELINE PROJECT on page 2
Mayor’s Message
The Ogden I see isn’t the one on your screen By Ogden Mayor Benjamin K. Nadolski In recent weeks, millions of soccer fans traveled to the United States for the FIFA Club World Cup. Before they arrived, many had been warned about what they would find: a country divided, angry, unsafe, and unwelcoming. Yet countless visitors left with a very different story. They spoke of the kindness of strangers. The hospitality of local communities. The pride Americans have in their hometowns. They found neighbors eager to help, businesses happy to serve, and communities that welcomed them with open arms. It wasn’t the America they had been led to expect. That contrast should give all of us something to think about. Every day we’re surrounded by headlines, social media posts, videos, and commen-
tary competing for our attention. Too often, the stories that rise to the top reward outrage over ordinary goodness, conflict over cooperation, and division over community. If we’re not careful, we can begin to mistake the loudest voices for the truest picture of the world around us. As mayor, I have the privilege, and sometimes the burden, of seeing our community at its hardest moments. I meet families experiencing homelessness, victims of crime, people battling addiction, mental illness, loneliness, and loss. I see businesses fighting to survive and parents carrying burdens most of us will never fully understand. Those struggles are real. They deserve our compassion, our attention, and our action. Pretending otherwise would be dishonest. But I have also learned
something equally important. The same community that experiences hardship is filled with people quietly helping one another every single day. I see neighbors checking on neighbors. Teachers staying after school. Coaches mentoring young athletes. Police officers, firefighters, and first
responders serving with compassion. Volunteers giving their evenings. Churches, nonprofits, businesses, and ordinary citizens stepping forward to lift someone else. Those stories rarely become national headlines. But they are the stories that define Ogden.
Think about your own experience. How do you feel about the world after twenty minutes of scrolling online? Now compare that to how you feel after talking with a neighbor, attending your child’s game, walking through
See OGDEN on page 2