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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's most recent emergency drought declaration, which Gov. Spencer Cox issued on April 21, is already over.
It expired near the end of May as the state legislature, which has to approve an extension of an emergency declaration, allowed it to run out without a vote. It was a decision that the governor said Thursday morning he agreed with before the order expired.
But that doesn't mean the drought is over. About 83% of the state remains in at least extreme drought, including 5.7% in exceptional drought, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor report issued earlier that morning. The percentage of the state in at least extreme drought has jumped nearly 50 percentages point over the past three months.
So why did the order run out 30 days after the declaration?
Cox explained that the point of the emergency order was "to get attention" that Utah is still very much in a drought after similar issues last year. He believes the emergency order served its purpose in this way.
Letting the order run out, he adds, won't impact any resources that are available in the state. Thus, it ultimately didn't make any sense to call for a special legislative session on the matter, especially because that session could have gotten off-topic in a hurry.
"It had the desired effect, so everyone knows (about the drought)," he said, during his monthly press conference with Utah media. "I don't think the average person is sitting on the couch saying, 'Well, that expired, I guess I can turn on my sprinklers in the middle of the day, or in a rainstorm and let them ride.' It really was helping to get people's attention."
The governor was also quick to state, "unequivocally," that he and the legislature are on the same page regarding the drought.
Utahns conserved well over a billion gallons of water last year and efforts remain in place to do the same this year. The Utah Division of Water Resources has an entire webpage dedicated to tactics that reduce water consumption, including a weekly lawn watering guide that's based on the week's conditions. Those are posted every Friday on the agency's Facebook page.
Utah's reservoirs are collectively at 63% of capacity at the moment, according to the Utah Department of Natural Resources.
Cox said that he and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown are leading a bipartisan effort within the Western Governors Association to push the Biden administration for more drought relief resources on a federal level, such as help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"They treat drought differently than they treat other natural disasters — it's not just this administration; the federal government, historically, has treated drought differently from hurricanes or earthquakes," he said. "And we think they should be treated the same."
Preparing for Utah's fireworks season
Despite the drought, Utah has, for the most part, avoided wildfires — or at least large fires like Arizona and New Mexico have dealt with in the past few months. There have been a little over 200 wildfires in the state this year that have burned a little over 1,000 acres total, according to the Utah Wildfire Dashboard, which is managed by state and federal agencies. The vast majority are human-caused.
But given the current conditions, a large fire could spark at any moment. The Bureau of Land Management on Thursday issued a fire prevention order with new seasonal fire restrictions on bureau-managed lands in Box Elder, Cache, Juab, Millard, Morgan, Rich, Salt Lake, Summit, Tooele, Utah, Wasatch and Weber counties.
The use of any steel component ammunition, steel component target, sky lanterns or similar device or any off-highway vehicle not equipped with a "properly installed" spark arrester is banned in those areas. There are widespread fire restrictions in southern parts of the state, as well. The restrictions there include campfire bans on state and federally managed land.
Utah is also quickly approaching one of two summer windows where fireworks will be legal to launch in the state. Fireworks can be launched between July 2 and July 5 for the Independence Day holiday and July 22 to July 25 for the Pioneer Day holiday, as long as it's in a location approved for launching.
With no special session to override the law on the horizon, Cox was asked Thursday if the state is looking to pressure municipalities into taking action to reduce the risk of fires caused by fireworks.
There will be some firework restrictions out there beyond the mandatory locations like state or federal-managed lands. The governor said the state is planning to work with the Utah League of Cities and Towns and "every mayor out there" to help ensure there are good policies in place to reduce fire risks.
"We're going to have smart restrictions," Cox said, adding that more details about fireworks this year will be released soon.
He points to Layton, which he said is following a plan to have places where residents can go to safely launch their fireworks with the fire department around. Salt Lake City, on the other hand, ditched its public fireworks display and will have a laser light show instead.
