The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Vernal Field Office has approved a temporary water pipeline project that will support well completion operations for Koda Uinta, LLC across fourteen sites in the Wonsits Valley area of Uintah County.
The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Vernal Field Office has approved a temporary water pipeline project that will support well completion operations for Koda Uinta, LLC across fourteen sites in the Wonsits Valley area of Uintah County.
The decision, issued under Categorical Exclusion documentation numbered DOI-BLM-UT-G010-2026-0093-CE, authorizes an amendment to right-of-way UTU94510, which is held by Koda Uinta. The amendment clears the way for installation of temporary surface lay-flat waterlines, a flexible, above-ground piping system commonly used in oil and gas operations to move water where it’s needed without the cost or disturbance of permanent infrastructure.
The lay-flat lines will run through the borrow ditch alongside a 0.7-mile stretch of Harmston’s Hole, an existing road claimed by Uintah County. The route is located in Section 4, Township 8 South, Range 21 East, Salt Lake Base and Meridian.
Because the pipeline crosses Tribal Trust surface estate, the BLM emphasized that its decision authority is limited strictly to land under its own administration — a distinction that matters given the layered jurisdictions in the area. The agency’s approval doesn’t extend to surface rights or activities beyond its regulatory reach.
The project is intended to be temporary, supporting the water transfer needs of completion operations rather than serving as permanent utility infrastructure. Once that work concludes, the lay-flat lines are expected to be removed.
Full details of the decision record are available through the BLM’s ePlanning portal. Questions about the project can be directed to the Vernal Field Office at 435-781-4400.
The pipeline approval was one of several BLM Vernal Field Office decisions issued around the same time, alongside authorizations for new natural gas wells and vegetation treatment work elsewhere in the region.
