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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A state report says new water supplies will be needed to quench the thirst of fast-growing suburbs around Salt Lake City in the coming decades.
Without fresh supplies, a worst-case estimate says supply will fall short of demand by 2027.
But Todd Stonely with the state Division of Water Resources says several planned steps -- including siphoning water from the Bear River and Colorado River -- should help ensure adequate water for the Salt Lake Valley for the coming decades.
The report released Tuesday is one in a series examining future water supplies for Utah's 11 major hydrological basins.
The Jordan River basin supplies Salt Lake County with water from mountain snowpack and high-elevation lakes.
State officials expect the county's population to more than double by 2060 to more than 2 million residents.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
