Editor's note: This story is an excerpt from the Great Salt Lake Collaborative's weekly newsletter, Lake Effect from Feb. 7, 2025. To keep up-to-date on water news from around Utah with a focus on Great Salt Lake and the Colorado River, subscribe here for free.
Dear readers,
Bills discussed at the Utah Legislature this week could make wasting water pricier, protect wetlands around the Great Salt Lake and help cities better explain how they're conserving to help the ecosystem.
Notable bills moving through the Legislature:
- HB 274 Water Amendments: Supported by conservation groups, this bill could make excessive water use more expensive by requiring systems to consider water conservation when they set water prices.
- By 2027, suppliers of culinary water would have to consider water conservation in determining the highest rate charged for culinary water.
- Secondary water systems would have until 2030 to implement tiered water rates that consider water conservation.
- “There are three things that require water: people, agriculture and ecosystems,” said sponsor Rep. Casey Snider. “If we don’t find a way to manage our water you can only live in a world where you can have two. You can have Great Salt Lake and you can people and you’ll never have agriculture. You can have agriculture, you can have people living here but you’d never have a Great Salt Lake. What we’re trying to do is … find a way to maintain all of those factors that contribute to a quality lifestyle in this state.”
- HB244 Wildlife Management Area Amendments: Hunting groups that spoke in support of this bill say it will help protect wetlands around the Great Salt Lake, which was repeatedly called a “crown jewel” for waterfowl hunting. It establishes a new wildlife management area that the sponsor says was enabled by the Compass Minerals decision last year to give to Utah about 65,000 acres of land that was not being used for mineral extraction.
- SB131 Water Commitment Amendments: Would allow cities to count water saved for the Great Salt Lake in their state-required conservation plans. It doesn’t create new flows or diversions.
- “It allows them to put this in their plan and communicate it back to the public. It might actually help get the public off our backs a little bit when it comes to all the conversation we hear about the Great Salt Lake,” said Sen. Nate Blouin, the sponsor.
- It was amended to only apply to the Great Salt Lake after a senator raised concerns — unfounded, according to the bill authors — that conservationists who want more water in places like the Green River or Utah Lake would cut off a water development project.
Notable funding requests
Lawmakers haven’t yet prioritized funding requests. This week, lawmakers pitched:
- $750,000 for wetland restoration and management at the Great Salt Lake. A state official said it would help get rid of invasive phragmites weeds at the Great Salt Lake, which suck up water from the lake. “The lowest hanging fruit for adding water to the Great Salt Lake is eradicating phragmites,” said sponsor Rep. Doug Owens.
- $6 million to enhance Great Salt Lake wetlands and suppress dust on the dry lakebed. If approved, the money could also be used on the Jordan River to improve water quality.
- $420,000 to create a training and certification program to incentivize and accelerate waterwise landscaping plans. A state official said 60% of water used at homes is used on landscaping. The state has incentivized removing lawns for water-wise plants in order to extend Utah’s water supply. But there is a gap in the number of landscape professionals who can install and maintain the low-water yards.
- Find out how to get paid to remove your lawn here.
- And check out a 2023 story on how a lack of low-water plants could stymie our plans to reduce water use.
Here's some recent notes from our readers in response to the news:
"We are all joking if we think we can conserve our way to raising the GSL. I had written a letter to the editor in 2022 or 2023 about using an easement already present to create a water pipeline from the Pacific Ocean. It was criticized for the energy use needed to pump water up hill. What doesn’t seem to have been included in the equation is this is not a continuous pump. ... The lack of action is rather depressing and with the Olympics coming in 2034, the pressure on water supplies is only going to be worse as the surrounding counties don’t seem to have a good handle on population growth."
— Michael
As always you can find all of our stories at greatsaltlakenews.org.
— Heather May, Great Salt Lake Collaborative Director
