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ST. GEORGE — Last year the county and its municipalities came together to pass the strictest water conservation ordinances in the state for new construction. This year, another plan is being developed in response to increasing drought conditions and disasters, both natural and manmade, that threaten the county's water supply.
"It's more than a drought contingency plan," Zach Renstrom, the general manager of the Washington County Water Conservancy District, said. "It's an emergency response plan."
While necessitated by the increasing severity of the regional drought that has gripped the West over the last 20 years, the contingency plan also is being crafted as a response to other potential disasters that could cripple the water supply and availability in the county. This may include an earthquake that causes a reservoir dam to collapse or a human-caused disaster that contaminates the county's reservoirs.
A part of the plan is to outline what the municipalities and the water district are responsible for once it is enacted, Renstrom said.
