CACHE COUNTY – No one can ever accuse legislative candidate Patrick Belmont of not thinking big.
The independent candidate for Utah House District 3 (Logan, River Heights and Richmond) has issued a detailed, 10-page assessment of the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Logan River Watershed Project now being considered by local, state and federal officials.
“It’s a big deal,” Belmont emphasizes in a recent Facebook post. “It could shape how we manage water here in Cache Valley for the next 50 years or so.”
In a nutshell, the Logan River Watershed Project proposes spending more than $300 million to address agricultural water management, flood prevention and public recreation in coming decades by reconstructing canal diversions, installing an irrigation connection to First Dam and constructing downstream water storage with pump stations.
“My concern is that the options presented reflect an artificially narrow framing of the challenges facing Cache Valley …” Belmont says. “I believe that the deeper question that we should be seeking to answer is ‘how do we build a water system that serves people, restores rivers, reduces demand, strengthens communities and contributes to the recovery of the Great Salt Lake?’”
Belmont is running as an independent candidate against first-term incumbent Utah Rep. Jason Thompson, the former mayor of River Heights.
A native of Chicago, Belmont earned a bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University in 2000 and a graduate degree and doctorate from Lehigh University.
At Utah State University, his career experience as a scientist, educator and community advocate have taken him into areas of concern for Utahns including water, energy, air quality, wildfire prevention and growth.
Belmont also served as vice-chair of the Logan City Renewable Energy and Sustainability Advisory Board until his resignation in spring of 2025 over policy disagreements with the Logan Municipal Council.
As a Democratic candidate, he unsuccessfully competed for the District 3 seat in the Utah Legislature against former Republican incumbent Dan Johnson in 2022 and against Thompson in 2024.
Belmont says that he is now running as an independent in this election cycle because “… red vs. blue is not getting us to a better place. Let’s get back to seeing one another as people, neighbors and members of a community.”
Among Belmont’s numerous technical concerns with the draft environmental impact statement for the Logan River Watershed Project is the fact that the plan makes no effort to reduce water demand in the future.
“If anything,” he says, “those planners are actually trying to incentivize more turf grass customers to legitimize existing water rights. That’s definitely not the right direction for us to be going.
“I also see missed opportunities for restoration and recreation, unanswered questions about growth and long-term cost as well as far too little consideration for the Great Salt Lake,” Belmont adds.
Belmont’s detailed assessment of the draft environment impact state can be found under the “Water” menu on his webpage at www.belmont4utah.org
Belmont and Thompson will face off for the House District 3 seat in the Utah Legislature in the upcoming Nov. 3 general election.