Central Utah Water Conservancy District Project Manager Chris York told the Heber City Council on Tuesday he learned earlier that day that “all the high water in the Provo River is gone.”
High water comes from rainfall and snowpack, the accumulation of snow that melts seasonally into bodies of water. The Natural Resources Conservation Service declared this Utah’s “worst winter for snowpack going back to at least 1930” on May 1.
The lack of high water means 80% of the Provo River’s first class water rights — those prioritized when in drought — can be satisfied. When a similar declaration was made in 2021, it took only four days for that 80% to drop to 60%, according to York.
The Provo River provides the majority of water for local pressurized irrigation, York said, with the rest coming from water stored in Jordanelle Reservoir.
When flow is low in the Provo River, more and more water used for pressurized irrigation comes from Jordanelle Reservoir, lowering the reservoir water level. Mayor Heidi Franco called that “(not) a pretty sight” last month.
However, York is optimistic that voluntary water conservation by residents will allow Heber City to make it through most of the pressurized irrigation season, which lasts from April 15 to Oct. 15.
The City Council unanimously approved entering the second phase of its four-phase water shortage plan — voluntary, rather than mandatory, conservation — to ensure the pressurized irrigation season lasts until Sept. 15.
“I have a lot of belief in people, and I think hopefully they’ll rally around the message and understand that there are people who really didn’t have an irrigation season in central and southern Utah. We’re really fortunate that we’re talking about Sept. 15,” York said. “We’re all in this together, and we need to do our part.”
The second phase of the water shortage plan encourages residents to limit lawn watering to three days a week, June through August, and two times a week in April, September and October. Watering should also be avoided between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and on windy, rainy or snowy days.
The Utah Department of Natural Resources has an interactive map breaking down how often residents of each county should water their lawns on a given week. On the week of June 12 to 18, for example, Wasatch County residents were advised to water their lawns three times a week. Residents with lawns that have low water use grasses should have watered their lawns only twice. That map is available at tinyurl.com/4s4xxr3u.
Heber City also asks residents to conserve water in other ways, like limiting hard surface washing, washing vehicles using a bucket and hose nozzle and covering swimming pools when not in use and lowering the water level by 4 inches below the spill line.
The third phase of the water shortage plan would make the conservation efforts around lawn watering, hard surface washing and swimming pools mandatory.
No phase of the water shortage plan mandates use of culinary water, water that has been treated for human consumption.
However, some neighborhoods of Heber City, like Valley Hills, use culinary water for outdoor uses. Heber City is encouraging residents of those areas, too, to follow these same conservation suggestions.
The goal of the second phase of the water shortage plan is to reduce city-wide water use by 5%. The third phase aims for a 15% reduction or more.
Franco questioned whether the second phase would be enough.
“Sounds to me like we need more than a 5% reduction right now,” she said.
A 5% reduction would require about one-third of city water users to follow the voluntary conservation suggestions. City engineer Russ Funk explained that a reduction on the same level as the third phase’s goal is possible if even more residents take up the city’s suggestions.
York added that mandating water conservation can lead residents to sometimes increase their water use, especially if the rules are not properly enforced.
“People think, ‘Oh, boy, I’ve got to get my water.’ It’s the COVID toilet paper and bottled water all over again,” he said.
Public perception of water conservation poses another challenge. When residents see agricultural water use, they often assume farmers are not conserving, York said.
“But they are cutting back,” he said. “You can’t really cut their wheel line in half, so to speak, so usually, what happens is they extend how many times they get across their field. So, if they’re used to getting across their field once every eight days, maybe now they’re getting across their field once every 10, 12 days.”
A similar conservation process is used for lawn watering at city parks, explained Assistant City Manager Mark Smedley.
“What happens if people don’t understand that those things are happening … they say, ‘Well, the city’s not going to do it. They’re not conserving. Well, it can’t be that important,’” said Funk. “We’ve got to figure out how to educate.”
Some residents, however, are gung-ho to immediately start conserving.
Resident Tatum Smuin shared some of her ideas about eliminating decorative turf to save water for the Provo River during a public comment.
She also pointed out that it can be difficult for residents to maximize their water conservation when many homeowners’ associations levy fines on homeowners with yellow lawns.
City Councilor Yvonne Barney explained that the city cannot intervene in a private contract between citizens. However, residents can place pressure on their homeowners’ associations to change the rules, given the statewide emergency declaration over drought conditions Gov. Spencer Cox issued last month.