Mission: Plan, Conserve, Develop and Protect Utahʹs Water Resources

Question: What are the biggest opportunities for Utahns to conserve water?

Division of Water Resources: This is a question we receive frequently. Quite literally the biggest opportunity for Utahns to conserve water is in their own backyard. The biggest use of water is outdoor use, which is also the biggest depletion, and many Utahns overwater their lawns. The most effective method is to reduce how much water you’re putting on your lawn. If you would like to be more proactive, there are several programs throughout the state where individuals can receive education, as well as support in how they can reduce their water usage. Some of these Programs include: an education program by Utah State Extension called the Water Check program; the Landscape Incentive Program pays residents to take out grass they are not using; there is a statewide program, the Smart Irrigation Controller Program, which provides a rebate of up to $100 to replace your irrigation clock with a smart irrigation controller that is weather-based and uses evapotranspiration (ET) rates data to program and water your lawn efficiently and effectively while reducing water consumption.

Department of Agriculture and Food: The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) also has water optimization programs, such as the Agricultural Voluntary Incentive Program (AgVIP) and soil health programs. Agriculture producers are investing and matching at 50/50 the $275 million funding for water optimization programs. This investment has allowed them to put more LEPA (Low Energy Precision Application) on their wheel lines to be more water efficient. We are involved in analyzing best practices in operations and incentivize them to try new things to conserve water. To be part of this program, a meter is required, which helps us collect the data to develop best practices in Utah.

Question answered at 30:16 in open house recording.

Question: What can our city water systems do to help better manage our water resources?

Division of Drinking Water: There are many options and tools that our public water systems have to help promote conservation. Water meters are very effective and promote conservation because people are more aware of their water use. Another way for water systems to conserve is to implement tiered water rates. When people pay more for what they use, it has shown effectiveness in conservation. Another effective measure is implementing master planning. Many of our water systems have aging infrastructure, which creates more water loss. So, having a master plan to help replace that aging infrastructure is very effective and eliminates water loss. Another part of a master plan involves doing water loss studies, which can be very effective. Restructuring is another measure that can be taken to help conservation efforts, and is highlighted in the state water plan. Restructuring can happen on a spectrum, from water systems contracting with a water operator all the way up to consolidation and regionalization. Rather than having a water basin with several small water systems competing for the same water resource, consolidation manages that water source under one district or company, which provides greater resiliency and redundancy. Some of the systems that have experienced drought and wildfire this summer have benefited from being part of a larger water district or region.

Question answered at 34:16 in recording.

Question: I know that agriculture is important, but can you explain why we grow so much alfalfa in the state?

Department of Agriculture and Food: Alfalfa can be a controversial subject. We grow alfalfa in Utah because we are good at it. Our altitude is suitable for alfalfa, and it is a crop that can rest, unlike other crops. One of the challenges our producers face is inconsistent weather. In the past three or four years we have had heavy winters and conversely terrible droughts. So, alfalfa is a crop that can handle these drastic variations in weather. These producers are growing the alfalfa for their own operations or selling it to other operations. There is a misconception that there is a lot of alfalfa going overseas, but that isn’t true: very little is sent, and in a drought year like this, not much, if at all.

Question answered at 37:25 in recording.

Question: How can a county or city find out how much water can be developed to accommodate their new growth?

Division of Water Rights: This is something the Division of Water Rights does on a daily basis with counties, cities, industrial users and all water users who have a water right. The division meets with the water user to help them understand the limits of their water right and what they can and cannot do. The division also helps the water right owner determine what the available water supply may be, whether groundwater or surface water, and what has historically been available. Water rights are evaluated by diversion and depletion, and water right owners cannot enlarge beyond what their water right is allowed to divert, and they also cannot enlarge beyond what they have historically depleted. Therefore when a new water use is introduced, the water right owner has to give up something in order for any new use to occur, while staying within the depletion and diversion limits. The Division of Water Rights has seven regional offices across the state with regional engineers that can meet with counties and cities and any water user to help them better understand what is available.

Question answered at 39:14 in recording.

Question: Nowadays we can move water from one place to another where it is needed. Why does the division still model and plan by basin?

Division of Water Resources: We have a very interconnected system. It is important to determine how we are developing in relation to the means of each hydraulic basin. We want to know the demands in each basin and how much water each basin can reliably produce. By doing that, it will help determine where infrastructure may be needed in the future. We will also see how that will impact the hydraulic basin where the water may be coming from. It’s important to understand all the basins when looking at infrastructure and other options that may be available to meet demand.

Question answered at 41:06 in recording.

Question: Who is asking hard questions about water use before permitting a new business or industry or homeowner, for that matter? Who should be asking those questions? How are permits for new development issued equitably?

Division of Water Resources: The answer to this question is dependent upon the municipality the business or residence is located. Often state entities are asked, “Can’t you stop this business from locating in this city?” or, “Can’t you stop this homeowner from using this amount of water on their landscape?” The reality is, as a state agency, we don’t have the ability to dictate to municipalities what they can and cannot do within their municipality as far as types of water use. The municipality has control regarding determining if the business has the proper licences, water rights, locations, zoning and other matters. Regarding homeowners, it is up to the municipality and the water provider to determine if they are using the appropriate amount of water that fits within the municipality's long term planning strategies. The state is in the position of preparing the state water plan to forecast the needs by basin and to provide information that may reveal the ability of an area to continue with development or if they are reaching the limits of their water supply and better planning is needed in order to make those decisions.

Question answered at 42:14 in recording.

Question: What is the state’s plan for more frequent droughts and disastrous climate events that come from climate change?

Division of Water Resources: The state looks at different possibilities that may happen. We look at many different scenarios to determine how it may impact our systems and storage and then we plan based on the information we have researched. This takes a lot of long-term planning, especially at local levels, because often water storage is done at the district and local levels. By researching and planning for different scenarios and what possibilities may occur, we can understand what needs to be addressed and how to do so while still meeting the water supply needs we currently have. In the draft of the Utah 2026 State Water Plan, you will see at the end of chapter three, we have added a technical update. Because our water landscape isn’t static, we need to adjust to challenges, and we are working on how to better improve and expand our modeling efforts with our sister agencies so we can get at some of these questions so that we are prepared for the future.

Question answered at 44:03 in recording.

Question: Why does Utah mostly use reservoirs and snowpack for water supply planning? What about groundwater?

Division of Water Rights: There are a lot of direct water diversions that are direct flow from the systems throughout the state. The reservoirs actually help the systems get through when, later in the season, when we need to rely on those reservoirs. A lot of the systems throughout the state have, over the years, developed based on the infrastructure that utilizes reservoirs that capture that snow runoff. There are some systems across the state that really don't have much surface water and they have to rely on the groundwater. As State Engineer, my staff work with those communities to look at the safe yield of those basins. If they are exceeding safe yield, we require groundwater management plans to help those systems stay within that safe yield, or get to that safe yield of that groundwater development. Whether it's a reservoir, whether it's direct flow, whether it's groundwater: all of those play into helping to determine that reliable supply that water users can count on or at least determine what the risk may be as far as that available supply for water planning.

Utah Geological Survey: Groundwater is a fundamental part of water supply planning in most of the state. One of the big differences is the immediate visual impact of surface water; it is easier overall to measure and observe. Groundwater is a little harder. You can only measure it in a tiny well, compared to the whole scale of a groundwater system. The wells are just a tiny part of it, and it moves much more slowly. It responds more slowly to changes on the surface. But also, groundwater pumping is in many cases directly connected to surface water. It's important to consider both resources at the same time in planning.

Question answered at 46:13 in recording.

Question: Does the water supply impact recreation?

State Parks: Water supply does impact recreation. The graph shared earlier in the presentation that referenced the Lake Powell boat ramp access is a good example of how lower water levels impact the boating program across several state parks. We do look at where we can extend boat ramps during lower water conditions to prepare for lower water levels and access in future.

Question answered at 48:59 in recording.

Question: What types of things like drought, recreation, etc. impact water quality?

Division of Water Quality: Water supply can affect water quality for recreation. As water levels decrease, the concentration of pollutants and nutrients in the water can increase and make the beneficial uses of those rivers, lakes, streams and reservoirs unusable for those uses. It can affect fishing, boating and other types of recreation on those water bodies. In addition, as we have drought, the runoff with non-point source pollution can affect the quality of water and also affect the recreation. 

Question  answered at 50:01 in recording.

Question: How can someone from the public find out about watershed councils?

Division of Water Resources: You can find out about the watershed councils at WatershedCouncils.utah.gov. There's a watershed council for every area of the state. Watershed councils are a really great way to keep learning about water and to specifically learn about water in your basin, how it's managed, what the watershed looks like, what the natural resources are there and what the needs and challenges are. You can contribute to the next iteration of the state water plan through the watershed council.

Question answered at 51:12 in recording.

Question: It seems there are so many different things happening regarding Utah's water and so many agencies involved. Is there anything being done to connect or combine efforts?

Division of Water Resources: Broad input is needed on something like a state water plan, which requires so much input from all of these experts. This is a great example of something being done to combine all of these efforts and have a unified vision. 

There are so many different things happening in our state, and no one area of our state is like the other. And so for these reasons, we need the interconnectedness of all of the groups working together to help understand how we can all work together to get the best bang for our buck in all of the water systems throughout the state. 

This is one of the reasons the watershed councils were created. The watershed councils coordinate really closely with other entities such as the conservation districts and the Colorado River Authority advisory councils. The watershed councils have worked on the state water plan and it's a really great example of how many of us here are trying to answer this exact question and combine our efforts for something better.

Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands: We oversee the state's sovereign lands in our division, which are the navigable waterways. One of the bigger efforts is the creation of the Great Salt Lake Commissioner's Office, also the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust. Great Salt Lake is kind of in the limelight of a lot of the water issues. There's been a lot of efforts to combine those efforts and bring people together to resolve these issues. Within our division, we also have management plans for each of these water bodies that are usually more related to how we manage the land within those lakes and rivers, but they also connect efforts between all of our different agencies that have management authority over those lands. 

Department of Agriculture and Food: The departments of Natural Resources, Environmental Quality, Agriculture and Food and the Colorado River Authority of Utah are all working together very closely on water issues and at every legislative session to fight for the best uses of and best return on investment on the taxpayer dollars for water. 

Division of Water Resources: All Utahns understand the importance of water, and we see that from our Governor, down through our legislature and down to your neighbors, asking questions about water. There's so much interest in taking care of the water that we have. 

Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office: We have regularly scheduled meetings every month with the Department of Natural Resources, Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Energy Development, and our public lands office. We're regularly talking about water issues. At the Department of Natural Resources, we also have the Resource Development Coordinating Council. When there are projects that happen around the state, everybody talks about impacts of these different projects and a lot of those revolve around water. There is a concerted effort to make sure we all stay coordinated across the different departments. 

Division of Drinking Water: One example is the Water Development Coordinating Council. There's so many councils and committees with a lot of different representation from the different agencies that are very effective, where we're making sure planning is being coordinated and unified. I have to give big kudos to our commissioners Ferry, Davis and Pehrson. The past couple of years our agencies have been coming together on a quarterly basis to make sure we know who each other are, and we know what we do. So when there are issues that come up, we know who to contact at a different agency to make sure we're unified and solving problems together.

Division of Water Resources: There really is so much going on around the state as it relates to water and relevant to the state water plan. Legislation was passed in 2024 that made a really important update to how the state water plan is developed. It asked for several of our sister agencies to inform the content of the plan. We have spent a lot of time with not just our commissioners and our directors, but also at the staff level to help us really coordinate. Water can be complicated. It can seem like we have these competing interests, but what has been really great with this collaboration is for us all to come together and find alignment to move Utah forward. And so that's a really great piece of legislation, not only at the state level but also including that collaboration that's required at the local level.

Question answered at 52:01 in recording.

Question: Why can't people store more rainwater that falls on our property to use on our yards?

Answer: Utah law does allow residents to collect and store precipitation to water yards or for other beneficial uses, but there are limits on the amount. The total allowed storage capacity is no more than 2,500 gallons on the same parcel of land where the water is captured and stored. Free registration with the Division of Water Rights is required to harvest rainwater unless no more than two covered storage containers are used to store the rainwater and neither covered container has a storage capacity of greater than 100 gallons. Limits are tied to Utah’s water rights system. Water that falls on a property may eventually contribute to streams, groundwater or other water supplies that are already allocated to existing water rights. The 2026 State Water Plan does not establish or change those requirements. However, it does support conservation and efficient outdoor water use, including approaches that help individuals make the most of Utah’s limited water supplies.

Question: Because Utah is such a dry state and it encourages growth in both population and economy, how can we make sure we are consistently gathering high-quality data so we can do a really good job of managing the water we do have? The historic records have a lot of gaps, and it looks like there are still missing data points in new data sets.

Answer: High-quality, consistent data are essential to managing Utah's water resources, and the question highlights a real challenge. Utah has a long history of water data collection, but the length, consistency and geographic coverage of records vary. Some monitoring and data collection networks change over time as technology, funding and data needs evolve. One of the priorities identified in the 2026 State Water Plan is continuing to improve data collection, monitoring and information sharing across agencies and water providers. That includes identifying data gaps, maintaining long-term monitoring networks, improving consistency and making information more accessible for planning and decision-making. As Utah grows and conditions change, the state will need to continually evaluate what information is needed, where monitoring gaps exist and how emerging technologies can help us better understand and manage available water supplies.