Slowing the flow

There are no comments for this page [ Add Comment ]

The end of Utah's drought was good while it lasted. But like that old saying goes, all those good things end.

Tuesday's front page headline -- "Not a drop to spare" -- was a throat-gripper: There isn't enough snow left in the mountains. The reservoirs should get us through another growing season, but after that it's anyone's guess.

Tage Flint, the executive director of the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District -- the Top of Utah's largest water collector and distributor -- used plain language to describe the situation: His customers are back on watering restrictions, enforcement teams will be out and about to verify compliance, and violators will be subject to two warnings before being shut off from the system altogether.

There are those of us who remember how dry the summer of 1977 was, and how scarce the preceding winter's snowpack was. Flint says this year is the worst we've had since '77.

He's not saying we can't water our lawns and gardens. We can. But we'll have to do it sensibly.

We've noted in this space on numerous occasions that toward the end of the drought cycle ending in 2004, people were generally getting with the program. Conservation goals were being exceeded. The state's target was to reduce consumption 25 percent by 2050; in fact, between 2000 and 2006, we cut back 16 percent -- and 3 percent of that reduction came during the non-drought years 2004-2006.

So, as Weber basin and other secondary water systems are activated in the coming days and weeks -- and for those who irrigate lawns with culinary water -- remember to use only what's needed and do your part to conserve our precious water supply. We can do this easily if everyone works together.

Comments

Add a comment...

Name:
Comment:
Security Code:	Type the characters to the left in the box exactly as they appear.
Your IP:	38.103.63.60 This address is recorded for security purposes.