Utah is far behind other Colorado River Basin states when it comes to a potential way to stretch its limited water supply — the recycling of sewage wastewater.
A recent UCLA analysis shows Utah cleaned and reused less than 1% of its wastewater in 2022 — the lowest figure among the seven basin states. Nevada and Arizona recycled 85% and 52% of their sewage, respectively.
As growing cities and thirsty farms strain the Colorado River system and drought affects communities across the state, report co-author Noah Garrison said Utah is missing a big opportunity.
“Simply cutting off wastewater recycling as an opportunity or as a potential source of water, I think really is going to inhibit the ability of that region to meet its water supply needs over the next 10, 20, 30 years,” the UCLA water policy expert said.
Water reuse plants clean sewage using a combination of filters, helpful bacteria and ultraviolet light so the end product is safe for human contact or even consumption. If Utah and the other basin states all reclaimed 40% of their wastewater, the report said the region would gain enough additional water to supply nearly 2 million homes. That could provide a vital boost as the Colorado River faces projected water shortfalls fueled by climate change and overallocation.
If you ask the state, however, officials contend the UCLA analysis doesn’t fully consider why Utah trails behind its neighbors: its focus on protecting the imperiled Great Salt Lake. It’s not that state leaders dispute the report’s data, said Utah Department of Natural Resources Executive Director Joel Ferry, but rather that Utah’s situation shouldn’t be compared apples-to-apples with states like Nevada and Arizona.
“That's where the study, I think, loses connection to reality on the ground,” he said. “The place where we're consuming a majority of that water also happens to be where the water is needed for environmental concerns.”
Treated sewage from homes and businesses in the heavily populated Wasatch Front typically flows toward the Great Salt Lake, helping to stabilize water levels that have dipped to historic lows in recent years. So, if communities remove water to reuse it, that could mean less water makes it to the lake.
“You would then have an environmental catastrophe,” Ferry said. “We would be out there purchasing water from somewhere else to try to bring water down to send to the Great Salt Lake.”
So instead of ramping up reuse in northern Utah, the state pushes for more efficient water use in homes, on lawns and at farms in an attempt to reduce demand.
The lake represents the “baseline of quality of life” for the Salt Lake City area, he said. If it shrinks further, that would threaten to add toxic dust to the air, harm millions of migratory birds and damage the local economy.
Because of that, the Legislature essentially banned new water reuse projects in the Salt Lake area when it passed HB349 in 2023. Projects that filed their applications before the law went into effect could still potentially be built, but they would face extra hurdles. The state now requires a plan outlining how the project will offset the amount of water being recycled, Ferry said. So, if a project plans to reuse 5,000 gallons of water, it would need to show how it will reduce use by 5,000 gallons through conservation.
There are reasons to be worried about flows into the lake, Garrison said, but that shouldn’t mean neglecting a potential solution when water’s already so scarce.
“There's a huge opportunity here to reuse wastewater without jeopardizing environmental conditions for the Great Salt Lake,” he said. “I think that the state should be doing a much stronger job of investigating that.”
Still, there are some bright spots for reuse in Utah, he said, such as a South Jordan demonstration project to reclaim wastewater to drinking standards. Utah’s largest city outside the Wasatch Front has also made gains.
The study found that St. George reclaimed 1,970 acre-feet of water in 2022 — around 17% of the city’s wastewater. One acre-foot is enough water to cover an acre of ground a foot deep in water.
“The fact that they are investing in wastewater reuse in an area where otherwise they're discharging it back into the Virgin River or losing water certainly seems like a tremendous opportunity,” Garrison said.
Washington County is also working to significantly increase its reuse in the coming years. The county’s 20-year plan expects future projects to produce 16,285 acre-feet of additional water each year by 2032 and 24,218 acre-feet by 2042.
Eventually, Ferry expects to see Washington County’s reuse numbers rival national leaders like Las Vegas and boost the state’s overall picture.
Utah has appropriated $200 million — as $50 million per year for four years starting in 2024 — to help Washington County build up its reclamation capabilities through the Water Infrastructure Restricted Account, Ferry said. If the county asks for more state money after that initial funding is gone, he’d support that.
Ferry would also be in favor of other reuse projects outside the Wasatch Front, if additional Utah communities are large enough and interested enough to make it happen.
“I think we should probably consider some of those things, because especially on the Colorado [River], every acre foot matters.”
