by Michelle Peot

As a follow-up to part 1 in this multi-part series on water, Selling Off Our Future for Short-Term Gain, this article focuses on recent progress on the county and state front. A full list of water-related state legislation and funding passed in 2023 can be found here.

Washington County Water Conservancy District 20-Year Plan

In July of this year the Washington County Water Conservancy District (WCWCD) issued their 20-Year Plan, which outlines the conservancy District’s plan for securing water resources to meet the area’s growing population. Overall, the heavy focus on conservation and reuse is promising, but other obvious opportunities remain unaddressed, like slowing growth, prohibiting wasteful water features in new developments through zoning, more aggressive conservation, and investigating additional agricultural water rights conversions. WCWCD doesn’t have a mandate to address all of these issues alone, but a holistic water management strategy should loop in municipalities for urban planning aspects.

Water Sourcing Breakdown

The following is a breakdown of the planned water sourcing the District has outlined in acre-feet per year. For reference, one acre-foot is 325,851 gallons.

Planned Water Sourcing for WCWD 2023-2042

Are the Residential Usage Targets Enough?

WCWCD estimated that one full-time family unit used on average 0.77 acre-feet per year in 2022 based on historical usage data. They anticipate this value to decrease annually as residential conservation measures are adopted with a goal of 0.65 acre-feet by 2042.

How does this compare with other desert cities? According to an Arizona’s Department of Water Resources 2021 post, on average 1 acre-foot in Phoenix’s Active Management Areas serves 3.5 households, in other words 0.29 acre-feet per household per year. In Las Vegas, the average household uses 0.40 acre-feet per year. Nevada also recently passed a law that allows the Southern Nevada Water District, which covers Las Vegas, to limit household water usage to as little as 0.5 acre-feet per year in times of water crisis. Even 20 years out, Washington County will be behind comparable desert cities today.

Household Usage Comparison for Representative SW Desert Metros

But aren’t Washington County households far bigger than the other metros? According to US Census data, the average household size was 2.71, 2.65, and 2.84 for Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Washington County, respectively. So on average Washington County has slightly higher average household size, but not enough to bump usage rates this high if similar conservation policies were implemented. This also doesn’t account for likely additional gains in water conservation in Phoenix and Las Vegas over the next two decades.

To offset the impacts of slightly higher average household size in Washington County, average monthly temperatures are consistently higher in Las Vegas and Phoenix, and rainfall is significantly lower in Las Vegas (NOAA data). One would expect those cities to use more residential water based on climate, but they don’t. Washington County still has a long ways to go.

Average Monthly High Temperature in Representative Desert Cities

Average Rainfall in Representative Desert Cities

Infrastructure projects

Municipal groundwater optimization will include a re-evaluation of groundwater yields and potential infrastructure projects to increase reliability. Among the planned water development projects is the Toquerville Reservoir, which received $5 million in federal infrastructure funding from the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal.

Notably what’s not in the planned sourcing is the controversial and fiscally irresponsible Lake Powell Pipeline. As the report states:

While [the Lake Powell Pipeline] LPP remains a critical component for meeting Washington County’s long-term water supply needs, a number of recent hydrological, environmental, and political issues impacting the Colorado River Basin have introduced uncertainty regarding the timing and yield of that project.

Hopefully this is the last we’ll hear of the pipeline project, and the fantasy will finally be put to rest.

Agriculture Water Conversion

Agriculture is by far the largest water consumer in the state, 79.2% of water usage per UT State University. According to the 2018 report Evaluation of the Potential Conversion of Irrigation Water to Municipal Use in the Virgin River Basin, up to 23,200 acre-feet of reliable, higher quality private irrigation water could be potentially purchased and converted to municipal use. The WCWCD sourcing plan only addresses municipally owned agricultural water that could be converted to culinary or secondary irrigation depending on water quality, an estimate of 3216 acre-feet.

More Information

If you’re interested in learning more about the District’s planned water strategy, I encourage you to read the 20-Year Plan and Regional Water Master Plan. Some of the conservation programs noted in the report are further detailed below. The District office is generally helpful in answering citizens’ questions. Their contact information is available here.

Virgin River Basin Groundwater Management Plan

Amendments to groundwater use were included in Senate Bill 53. The legislation includes requirements for water rights retention and managing groundwater in at-risk watersheds through groundwater management plans. A groundwater management plan does not yet exist for the Virgin River Basin despite the skyrocketing demand and dwindling supply.

According to the UT Division of Water Rights a groundwater management plan will be developed. The public comment period has not been scheduled, but water rights holders in the basin should expect to receive a notification. Examples of other groundwater management plans are available on the DWR site.

Secondary Water Metering

One of the major problems in assessing water usage in UT is that secondary irrigation water usage is frequently not monitored. Senate Bill 251, which became law in May, addresses this by requiring secondary water meters and providing low interest loans for metering instrumentation. The law lists some exemptions for small irrigation districts.

Home and Business Rebates

Substantial rebates are available to home and business owners for water-saving appliances and devices, including low-flow toilets, flow rate monitors, and WaterSense plumbing fixtures.

Turf Buyback Program

As mentioned at the September 6th City Council meeting, WCWCD administers a turf buyback program funded by the state at a rate of up to $3 per square foot of lawn. Municipalities must meet a set of minimum requirements to qualify:

No lawn on parking strips or areas less than eight feet in width in new development.
No more than 50% of front and side yard landscaped area in new residential developments is lawn. Lawn limitations do not apply to small residential lots with less than 250 square feet of landscaped area.
In new commercial, industrial, institutional and multi-family development common area landscapes, lawn areas shall not exceed 20% of the total landscaped area, outside of active recreation areas.

Toquerville is working toward adopting WCWCD landscaping standards, which would allow residents to qualify for the program. Homeowners can apply for a rebate now and be conditionally approved for a rebate pending Toquerville’s adoption of the standards.

Xeriscaping Ideas

It is possible to landscape in southern UT without no or minimal irrigation, including shade trees. For inspiration visit Red Hills Desert Garden. Red Hills Desert Garden is a 5-acre, arid landscaping exhibit open daily to the public at 375 E. Red Hills Parkway in St. George. Admission is free. Their website also hosts an online desert plant finder, including many native plants.

Progress, But Still a Ways to Go