Utah’s leaders speak about ongoing drought, water conservation efforts
Gov. Spencer Cox speaks about water conservation efforts during a press conference at the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District in West Jordan on Thursday, July 29, 2021.
Gov. Spencer Cox speaks about water conservation efforts during a press conference at the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District in West Jordan on Thursday, July 29, 2021.
Gov. Spencer Cox speaks about water conservation efforts during a press conference at the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District in West Jordan on Thursday, July 29, 2021.
Gov. Spencer Cox speaks about water conservation efforts during a press conference at the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District in West Jordan on Thursday, July 29, 2021.
A handful of Utah government and water officials, including Gov. Spencer Cox, spoke on Thursday about the state’s ongoing drought and ways that state agencies can conserve water throughout the rest of the summer.
Nearly the entire state, just under 99%, is currently experiencing “extreme” drought conditions, according to data from the U.S. Drought Monitor.
During a press conference at the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District in West Jordan, Cox told reporters that “we have seen significant reductions in water usage across the state” and noted that “every water district has reported significant water savings compared to this time last year and in years past.”
The governor also noted that there was “an incredible reduction in wildfires” in July compared to the previous year, including a lower number of human-caused wildfires on Pioneer Day weekend.
“And so we’ve been really fortunate,” he said. “We’ve been lucky — but again, this is a direct response to people’s behavior.”
The governor also talked about ways state agencies and local water districts can save water, including by installing secondary water meters statewide, which he said “has to be a priority for us.”
“You can’t manage what you can’t measure. And so areas that have installed secondary meters have seen a reduction in water use by about 20% to 30%. Just by measuring it, they see a reduction. So installing secondary meters yields the biggest bang for the buck when you look at the amount of water saved compared to the cost of meters,” he said.
Cox praised a handful of Utah County cities that are already “fully metered,” including Spanish Fork, Mapleton, Saratoga Springs and Santaquin.
“We’re not new to water conservation,” said Rick Maloy, water conservation manager at the Central Utah Water Conservancy District. “We’ve been doing aggressive programs for many years, and in fact over the last 10 years, the district has conserved over a million acre feet of water through our programs.”
That’s enough water to fill Strawberry Reservoir, according to Maloy, who acknowledged that there is still more work to do.
St. George Mayor Michele Randall spoke about efforts to conserve water in southern Utah. In the last two months, Washington County used 40 million gallons less than in the same period in 2020, “even despite it being hotter and drier,” Randall said.
“We’re targeting the state’s most aggressive water conservation goals,” the St. George mayor said. “This is going to require significant changes to our lifestyles and our landscapes.”
This year, St. George is removing nearly 500,000 square feet of grass from city parks and municipal facilities, according to Randall, in addition to revising irrigation and landscaping at city golf courses “to save more than 30 million gallons a year annually.”
“Water is the keystone to all of our communities,” she said. “With it, we thrive. Without it, we fail. And so we each need to do our part. And southern Utah is leading out on doing that in the hottest, driest part of the state.”