SALT LAKE CITY — It could soon be easier for farmers and ranchers to lease their water to help the Great Salt Lake.
The Great Salt Lake Commissioner's Office, tasked by state leaders with coming up with a plan to save the lake, told a legislative appropriations committee on Friday it intends to lean heavily into leasing agriculture water in the next year.
"The number one thing we want to do is to be able to help our ag producers view water as a commodity," deputy Great Salt Lake Commissioner Hannah Freeze told FOX 13 News.
The idea was offered by farmers, Freeze said, who have offered to not grow an extra crop and lease the water. Companion legislation by Rep. Jill Koford, R-Ogden, will make it easier for agriculture producers to do it. The legislature is being asked to spend $5 million to get it going.
The Utah Farm Bureau said it was supportive of the effort.
"It’s an all of us problem, not just agriculture," said ValJay Rigby, the group's president. "It’s our residential users, municipal industrial users. All of us need to be part of the solution."
Agriculture is Utah's top water user and has faced pressure to use less as the Great Salt Lake declines. Lawmakers have spent over $1 billion on water conservation measures, including a program that helps agriculture producers pay for implementing water-wise technologies on their farms and ranches.
