Low-flow fixtures and water-efficient appliances, such as on-demand water heaters and ultra-efficient washing machines, require large upfront investments, but many water-saving options are available that don’t cost a nickel. They are just a matter of changing habits.
Does your car really need to be washed? Your kids certainly do, but is a half-hour in the shower needed to get the job done? Wait until the dishwasher is full to run it. Same with the laundry, and ask yourself whether that barely worn hoodie should be washed today.
Here is a list of simple steps Utahns can take to lower their water use, borrowed from Utah’s Slow the Flow campaign and the Utah Division of Water Resources.
Andrew Kramer: Proposed Colorado River Authority is secretive and invites corruption
Utah Legislature’s House Bill 297 must be soundly defeated
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Colorado River flows into Lake Powell near Hite Marina on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021.
By Andrew Kramer | Special to The Tribune
| Feb. 10, 2021, 8:00 p.m.
Reliable fact-based studies prove the proposed multi-billion dollar Lake Powell pipeline one of the most expensive projects in state history is risky, cost prohibitive and unnecessary. Because pipeline proponents are obsessed with the pipeline being the only workable option to provide future water for Washington County, they refuse to fairly consider feasible alternatives that can be implemented at a fraction of the cost.
Utah is off to one of its poorest water years on record with snowpacks and reservoirs far below where they normally stand at this time of year. There is no relief in sight, say forecasters.
Source: John Wang/DigitalVision via Getty Images
West of Lake Powell, along the Utah-Arizona border, lies a sparsely populated territory of high desert, deeply scored canyons and barren mesas. Here, Utah officials want to build a 140-mile-long pipeline to bring precious Colorado River water west to the thriving town of St. George, in the state s far southwestern corner.
In an era of perennial drought, when the future of the Colorado River watershed, the lifeline of the U.S. Southwest, is the subject of fierce debate in state capitols across the region, the idea of bringing more than 26 billion gallons of water a year to a community of fewer than 200,000 people on the edge of the Mojave Desert strikes many as folly. To officials in Washington County, of which St. George is the county seat, though, it is a critical resource for the future.
Bear Lake water management under review
BOISE, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK)-The Idaho Department of Water Resources is teaming up with PacifiCorp and the state of Utah to look at ways to expand water storage capabilities at Bear Lake.
A new study, developed by modeling experts from the University of Colorado, summarizes findings about how different flood control operations could raise lake levels and increase storage.
The “Joint Bear River Planning Model” will be used to ensure all of the participants are using the same data. The Idaho Water Resources Board indicates it is likely to be the first of several water supply studies in the Bear River Basin.