Utah is in full-blown drought mode. Reservoirs and storage systems are desperately low, and even the Great Salt Lake, that paragon of salty buoyancy, is only slightly more than a shallow, briny puddle, instead of the vibrant desert ecosystem it is supposed to be. The evaporative effect of a full GSL is vital for normal weather patterns and the snowfall that fills the … [Read more...]
Utah’s Megadrought: Have the abundance of Spring rains made a difference?
Despite the recent recurring rains we have had along the Wasatch Front, in the month of April and early May, Utah is not even close to being in the clear in the midst of our twenty-year megadrought. Examining the snowpack totals in Utah's various drainage basins we can see the extent of the problem. In the Duchesne basin, below the Uintas we are just 54% of normal. In the … [Read more...]
Trouble in Paradise: Ogden Valley Considers Its Water Use Future
Strict water restrictions, combined with fast growth, hit the upper Ogden Valley hard in 2021, causing some farmers and ranchers to rethink their livelihoods. The U.S. Drought Monitor shows most of Utah in extreme drought. By August 2021, Pineview Reservoir had shrunk to 24 percent of its normal size. The Wolf Creek Water & Sewer Improvement District imposed a moratorium … [Read more...]
Will Utah Run Out of Water?
Paul Nielson is a fourth-generation farmer in Perry, Utah who has personally been at it for fifty years. “In all my years of farming it has never been this bad,” he observes. Nielson serves on the Weber-Box (Weber County/Box Elder Water Conservation Board of Directors, which controls the outflow of water from Pineview Reservoir. With Pineview being at its lowest level in years, … [Read more...]
Will Utah Have Enough Water to Sustain Its Booming Population?
If 2020 hadn’t been apocalyptic enough, Utahns looking forward to a snowy new year got drought in January — raking leaves instead of shoveling walks, skiing on artificial powder and wondering when things might resemble normal again. For Todd Adams, Director of The Utah Division of Water Resources, the dry climate is all the more reason water managers need to carefully … [Read more...]
Utah is at an Impasse Over its Water Strategy
Steve Erickson is the self-identified “public policy person” for the Utah Audubon Council. He is part of the advisory team that is meant to send a state water strategy to Utah Gov. Gary Herbert’s desk. He said on Wednesday on Utah's capitol hill that the 197-page plan should be a “live document.” It’s due on July 19. But that didn’t keep Erickson from adding this: “The … [Read more...]
How to Water Your Yard with Little Water
The desire for an English pastoral-style yard has been a Utah obsession since the days of the pioneers. With over a million people living across the Wasatch front, water is becoming scarcer (and more expensive) every year. Though we live in a desert, there are ways to conserve, while still maintaining that lush, green landscape you’ve always wanted. 1) Cut down on the … [Read more...]