Protecting PEX/UF-B/Ethernet from gophers with hardware cloth?
23 gauge hardware cloth strikes me as something that won't have a long life when buried in the ground.
I'm no gopher expert, but taking your word for it that some protection is needed even at 30&quot; depth, I'd think about encasing the PEX and cables in something else:

solid-core SCH40 or even SCH80 PVC conduit or pipe. Not SCH20, class 200, nor foam-core pipe.
EMT electrical conduit
steel pipe

This is a little bit.. weird.. because it's not entirely obvious to what extent electrical code rules apply. A UF cable does not have to be in conduit, but if it is, then conduit sizing rules should apply. Inside a building a low voltage data cable cannot be in a conduit with a power cable. Few would even ask about putting a water supply in conduit with a power cable. Those all can share a building space (the cavity of a wall, for example) -- so can they be buried together outdoors encased in something, anything, that provides physical protection but is neither &quot;earth&quot; nor &quot;conduit?&quot; Is it OK if that encasement happens to be labeled as a conduit? Are there rules about shared non-conduit encasement? I'm not sure.
Electrical code requires a conduit system to be fully built first; wires or cables are pulled through as a second step (ie don't slide conduit onto cables/wires and build-as-you-go). I'd suggest that if you do choose to protect those direct-bury rated items inside pipe of some kind, that you size the pipe large enough and use pulling junctions so that the PEX and cables can be pulled into the pipe after it is assembled. In the case that a gopher does chew through the protection and damage the lines inside, you'd have a fair chance at pulling them out of the encasement and pulling in repaired or replacement items. You'd also be able to measure the distance to the damage point and dig in exactly the right spot to repair the encasement if desired.