- Gov. Spencer Cox declared a drought emergency in Utah.
- The order activates state emergency operations and advises water conservation measures.
- Nearly 95% of Utah is in severe drought; emergency lasts 30 days unless extended.
SALT LAKE CITY — Gov. Spencer Cox has issued an emergency declaration over Utah's worsening drought situation.
The order, signed by the governor on Thursday, opens up funding opportunities for Utahns impacted by drought and provides more federal coordination, but he said it goes beyond that.
"This declaration is about more than just paperwork; it facilitates the use of emergency resources (and) raises awareness to ensure a unified, coordinated response," he said, announcing the measure while standing in front of Little Dell Reservoir.
The measure specifically activates the state's emergency operations plan and instructs its drought response committee to review the situation and needs associated with it. Its members will recommend actions to address any drought needs and outline interagency coordination.
It also requires state agencies to follow the Utah Division of Water Resources' weekly water guide for any water at outdoor properties.
The order also comes with several recommendations. It asks water suppliers and irrigation companies to encourage efficient landscape watering, while cities and counties develop and implement water restriction plans to promote water conservation for the irrigation season that is now underway.
Residents are asked to reduce outdoor water use and waste, as well. This can come from fixing irrigation leaks and inefficiencies, installing smart water controllers, switching to waterwise landscaping in some areas of their lawn or installing drip irrigation. Installing low-flow toilets and fixing pipe leaks can help reduce indoor water, as well.
"This is a record-breaking challenge, but Utahns are record-breaking. We can't control the weather, but we can control the tap," he said.
The order remains in effect for the next 30 days, unless extended by the Utah Legislature. House Majority Leader Casey Snider, R-Paradise, told KSL on Wednesday that state lawmakers will track the situation and likely "respond appropriately" if the need arises to extend it beyond 30 days.
It differs from another emergency declaration that Cox issued last week, which opened up resources for farmers in 10 counties across the state who were impacted by late-winter freezes in April.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture previously issued a natural disaster designation for most of Utah because of the drought, which provides farmers and ranchers access to emergency loans to assist with the replacement of equipment, livestock, refinance of some debts or reorganization of farming operations.
Cache, Morgan, Rich and Washington were the only ineligible counties in Utah. The federal government set a Dec. 10 deadline for applications.
An increasing drought
The governor issued a drought emergency last year, but that only covered 17 counties in central and southern Utah that experienced a bad snowpack. About 72% of the state was in drought this time last year, including 43% in severe or extreme drought.
Nearly 95% of the state is now in severe drought or worse, including over 60% in extreme or exceptional drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Only small parts of southwest and northeast Utah remain in moderate drought.
Utah is no stranger to drought, but this year has felt different because of the record-warm temperatures and record-low snowpack, said Joel Ferry, commissioner of the Utah Department of Natural Resources. Snowpack accounts for about 95% of the state's water supply.
Soil moisture levels had dropped to record-low levels for mid-May before storms passed through the state this week, as most of the record-low snowpack has melted since levels peaked early two months ago. Even after this week's late snowfall, only about 5% of the state's peak snowpack is left to melt.
Hydrologists and fire forecasters say the late-season storms are beneficial in slowing down the drought, but don't fix the overall issue controlled by the poor snowpack.
Better conditions in April and early May didn't change the state's water outlook either. The Bear, Provo and Weber rivers, along with Big Cottonwood Creek, were all projected to have bottom-five snowpack runoffs within a record period spanning 60 to 120 years, the National Weather Service Colorado Basin River Forecast Center noted in its May water outlook.
That's where the declaration matters, Ferry explains. Utah leaders don't have direct oversight of water restrictions, but they can set the tone and encourage water conservation, which is important because there's no sign of how long the drought will last or how severe it could get.
"As we reduce water, it saves this water for next year and the following year," he said. "We don't know what the future is going to be, so raising awareness is probably the most important thing that a declaration can do."
How groups are responding
Utah's reservoir system is currently 70% full, which is slightly below the median average for May. Many local entities had already cracked down on water use because of the poor water outlook projected for the summer.
Local examples of cutting back water
- Weber Basin Water Conservancy District, which has about a two-year supply in its system, delayed its irrigation to mid-May and could end its season two weeks to a month early, Scott Paxman, its general manager, told an interim legislative committee on Wednesday. That's on top of several restrictions to curb water use in northern Utah.
- The Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District, which serves water to about 800,000 residents, created a 10% mandatory cut for all water users, and a financial penalty for anyone who doesn't make those cuts, said Jacob Young, its general manager. He noted the system, which has a seven-year supply, is in a decent situation because of reduced withdrawals from its reservoir system in recent years.
- Salt Lake City Public Utilities implemented Stage 2 of its water shortage plan in March, asking residents to save and instructing all local, county and state government facilities to reduce their irrigation and indoor water use by at least 10%.
Measures to reduce water consumption before this year have helped ease the impacts of a year like this, said Laura Briefer, director of Salt Lake City Public Utilities. Cutting back water every year, she said, allows the city and state to stretch their water supplies even as they grow.
"These efforts will improve our long-term water security and avoid significant costs associated with developing additional water supplies," she said, noting that Salt Lake City's water demand has dropped by 25% since 2000 even as its population has grown by nearly 20%.
Still, Utah leaders faced online scrutiny from residents on Thursday over water practices from farming and new data centers, each of which can consume large amounts of water.
Cox sidestepped the concerns, saying farmers have already been cutting down on water use, while the latest Box Elder County data center proposal would use less water than the current water rights in the area, asserting that more water would go toward the Great Salt Lake.
"There are issues (with the data center) that people should be concerned about for sure; water is not one of them in that particular case," he said.
