Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — The National Weather Service reports the storm system that pushed across Utah the past few days provided as much as 10 inches of snow in places like Alta and Snowbird, giving the state's snowpack regions its first meaningful snow in weeks.
Yet the gap that emerged from a dismal January followed by a dry first half of February has Utah back in a hole with about seven weeks left in the traditional snow collection season. Utah's snowpack is now at 85% of where it should be at this time of the year, per Natural Resources Conservation Service data.
It's why Gov. Spencer Cox is clinging to hope that some of the weather service long-range forecasts — some that offer signs of precipitation — come to fruition. Anything short of 100% just won't cut it after how low Utah's reservoirs got last year.
"If we have anything less than an average year, we will be in as dire a position as we were last year," the governor said during his monthly PBS Utah news conference Thursday.
The Utah Department of Natural Resources reported last week that Utah's reservoirs were 53.6% full — down from 64% at the same point last year. Utah's collective reservoir supply ended up falling below 50% by the end of the 2021 water year.
Utah's reservoirs will recover some with the 9.2 inches of water currently in the state's mountains. The statewide soil moisture levels are also much wetter than last year's, meaning experts believe more of the snowmelt this spring will end up in reservoirs than last year.
However, the current snowpack total is 6.8 inches below the normal peak, with an average peak date of April 4. It's why Brian Steed, the executive director at the Utah Department of Natural Resources, said last week that the next two months will "really determine what kind of spring runoff we will have."
At the same time, about one-third of the state remains in extreme drought, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor report, also released Thursday. Parts of western and southeast Utah, as well as Uintah County, are where the driest conditions are. At least 97% of Utah is currently listed in a severe drought — up about three percentage points from last week's report.
As Cox pointed out in Thursday's media briefing, there will likely be more of the same drought measures applied this year if the state ends up with a below-average snowpack.
State legislators are currently mulling over several bills that would address the issue, such as laws that would force the state to reduce water use, remove park strips and enhance secondary water metering.
Biologists are also working to remove invasive species that absorb water out of the state's streams and rivers.
"If we have to take another step, we will," Cox said, regarding if the situation continues to get worse.
Cox calls Great Salt Lake bill 'an important start'
Water and drought topics dominated the one-hour monthly press briefing, including questions about Cox's thoughts on two of Utah's natural treasures: the Great Salt Lake and Utah Lake.
Utah legislators were given a helicopter tour over the Great Salt Lake earlier this week to view how much smaller it has gotten over the last few decades. The lake hit its record-low water depth of 4190.2 feet in October, according to the Utah Department of Natural Resources. It's currently at 4190.9 feet and expected to fall again at the start of the irrigation season.
Cox said the tours "galvanized" lawmakers who now agree more needs to be done to protect the drying wonder.
"Even those who are the biggest advocates for the Great Salt Lake were shocked when they got up there and saw that bird's-eye view of how dry it really is and how small the lake has gotten," he said. "No picture, no drone footage can do that — what they were able to see with their own eyes."
The governor made it clear that the flyovers didn't cost the state additional money because they used required pilot training hours to carry out the tours of the lake.
Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, who was on one of the flights, submitted a bill Wednesday that seeks to direct $40 million in state funds toward watershed enhancements by the Great Salt Lake, including at least one-fourth of the money toward efforts that "protect and restore wetlands and habitats in the Great Salt Lake's surrounding ecosystem to benefit the hydrology of the Great Salt Lake."
Cox called the bill "an important start" that could lead to "hundreds of millions of dollars" dedicated to preserving the lake.
"It's not just the $40 million that's important. It sets up a framework that allows additional dollars from nonprofits and private organizations to couple with the state dollars — and to help get water rights that will allow for additional flow to come into the Great Salt Lake," he said. "This is very exciting, and I think combining the private sector and the nonprofit sector with the public sector makes our dollars go a lot further."
The governor added the state is aware of people willing to sell or donate water rights to bodies of water that flow into the lake. He also doesn't expect the state will ever take water rights away from current owners.
Cox was also asked about Utah Lake — specifically, a multi-billion dollar plan to dredge the lake and add man-made islands that has been controversial enough to spark a lawsuit. The governor said something does need to be done about the lake, which he called a "disaster" needing to be dredged.
That said, he didn't offer a strong opinion on the issue given the environmental concerns over the proposed plan. He said it's clear that something has to be done but the state has yet to make a decision on what the plan is and how it should be paid.
