Utah’s Leadership Drought is a National Embarrassment
Utah is just months away from ending one of its worst water years in modern history. Climate change is shrinking our rivers and lakes to disturbing levels, yet Utah Governor Spencer Cox has responded with a statewide drought emergency declaration which is about as effective as his call to pray for rain.
The Governor’s executive order included a list of optional water conservation suggestions that people can take, as has been promoted by thousands of cities and counties over the last three decades. Four years after the record low at the Great Salt Lake, Governor Cox wants you to know you can install a low-flow toilet. Meanwhile, his administration refuses to support phasing out tax subsidies which encourage water waste by lowering the price of municipal water.
His administration helped court a data center near the Great Salt Lake’s North Arm, supported legislation to make new water diversions upstream of the Great Salt Lake easier to approve, and also approved another 50,000 acre-feet of new water diversions upstream of the Great Salt Lake since 2020. But he wants you to know that if you wanted to, you could xeriscape part of your lawn.
You might notice this voluntary approach puts the onus on individuals to solve the systemic issues his administration continues to create in Utah’s water sphere. This lack of real leadership is embarrassing, especially when compared to leadership shown during a similar crisis in a state many Utahns love to hate.
In 2015, California was in the throes of an epic multi-year drought which then-Governor Jerry Brown solved with some courage. Governor Brown issued an executive order requiring businesses to dramatically cut water use. It also offered rebates for water-efficient appliances, replaced 50 million square feet of lawns with drought-tolerant landscaping, and called on water agencies to charge more for high water use. He also set a one year goal of reducing California’s water use by 25% in that year alone, saving 1.8 million acre-feet of water.
By comparison, our current Governor set Utah’s annual water conservation goal to just 0.5% each year for the next 50 years. Utah is the highest per person municipal water user in the country, yet Governor Cox is ignoring the chance to set a real water conservation goal. Is it because Governor Cox’s administration is advancing the $3–5 billion Bear River Development, which will be the death knell for the Great Salt Lake?
This climate change megadrought should be a wakeup call that it’s time we join the rest of the western U.S. in embracing real solutions to climate change, not more boondoggle spending that will worsen toxic dust storms and leave a legacy of debt. Please, sign our petition to call on Governor Cox to increase Utah’s annual water conservation goal to a reasonable and necessary 2%.