‘Keep conserving’: Gov. Cox praises Utah for drought response
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox sang high praise for Utahns for their efforts in conserving water over the last couple of years during his monthly press conference on Thursday, May 16.
As the weather continues to rise into the summer months, Gov. Cox urged Utah to keep conserving water, saying the efforts are working and officials are proud of the results. Cox told reporters that experts were surprised by Utahns efforts as last year was reportedly the first year in state history where there was extra water and water use did not rise.
“It means there was a paradigm shift and we need that paradigm shift to continue,” said Cox.
Cox reported that Utah has started in a great place this water year. At the start of the spring runoff, most of Utah’s reservoirs sat at over 80% capacity, which Cox said was remarkable. Now, the reservoir capacity is at 90%, which he said is much higher than normal for this time of year. The water-saving efforts have even been trickling down to the Great Salt Lake as well.
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Earlier this week, Great Salt Lake Commissioner Brian Steed said the elevation of the lake‘s south arm reached 4,195 feet. Cox called that the “grave danger” threshold. Should the lake rise another foot, Cox said it would put the lake out of “grave danger” and into “just bad” territory.
“We’re in a much better position than we have been in historically,” said Cox. “If we can do that again this year, and we have another just average year, we can get the lake back into healthy territory, which I think everybody is anxious for.”
As Cox encouraged Utahns to continue to slow the flow, he said the state isn’t stepping off the gas. The state will continue funding programs for farmers to conserve water and programs used by Utah residents to replace their lawns with waterwise landscaping.
Cox also said the state legislature has no intention to change policies that are actively helping the lake, keeping resources where they are. He said the best way to help the lake — and in turn, mitigate any potential dangers from dust — is to keep the lake full.
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“These types of dead seas are drying up all over the world. It’s not just here,” said Cox, pointing toward California and Israel. “We need the best science to try to think through, if that were to happen, how could we respond? But our first priority – we truly believe we could save the lake and we’re doing that. But we will work with scientists to figure out the best engineering ways, if we’re not able to do that for any reason, to make sure we don’t have an ecological catastrophe with dust.”
In the meantime, Cox has no intentions of pulling back and advises Utahns to continue to hold off on watering their lawns. With cooler temperatures and more rain on the horizon for Utah, Cox said there isn’t much of a need right now to water lawns.
The Utah Department of Natural Resources indicated only those in the very southern portions Utah should consider watering their lawns. In the most recent weekly watering guide, Washington County residents could do two watering events per week while those in Kane, San Juan and Grand County only need one watering event. The rest of Utah, however, can get away with not watering and still keeping a nice-looking lawn.
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