April showers may bring May flowers, but that doesn’t mean we can be careless about our water use this Spring and Summer. Did you know it takes approximately 3,000 gallons of water each time you water the average quarter-acre yard? This can add up quickly during a drought like the one Utah is currently facing.
“A great resource to use to help decide how often you should be watering your yard is the ‘Weekly Lawn Watering Guide’ from the Utah Department of Natural Resources,” said Council Member Kelvin Green. “For now, it indicates that we should wait to water until the temperatures are in the mid-70s for several consecutive days. You can find this guide on the Department of Natural Resources website. We all need to reduce our usage this year by 5 percent.”
To help ensure that everyone in the City can receive an appropriate amount of water during extreme droughts, the City Council is working with Public Works to adopt an updated drought management plan. (The last plan was adopted in 2003.) These types of plans are important, as they create a framework for residents and their city to follow when water usage needs to be restricted.
“Something that’s important to me within the new drought management plan is that residents receive adequate warnings before they are fined when any implemented water restrictions are violated,” said Council Member Melissa Worthen. “I also think once the plan is adopted, it will be essential to communicate what is expected of the residents and to keep residents updated as to whether restrictions are in place. We want to give residents a chance to conserve water and to follow the new structures.” The City Council will discuss the drought management plan in this month and will likely adopt a final plan by the end of spring, so be sure to look for this item on future City Council Meeting Agendas.
