Mr. and Mrs. UV Homeowner would love to replace their entire thirsty, expensive-to-maintain grassy front lawn with a combination vegetable garden and attractive water-wise xeriscape (xeriscape.uvef.org) with native plants and trees. The birds and the bees would love it. But the city they live in has outdated codes that make it illegal. That is a problem that needs fixing. There are many more water problems in Utah.

   Utah is experiencing a 1,200 year mega-drought and facing a growing and multi-faceted water crisis. The Great Salt Lake is drying up and predicted to result in an “environmental nuclear bomb”—toxic air pollution. We are experiencing human-caused global warming and increasing record high temperatures. Utah’s population is rapidly growing as is the demand for water. Utahns dump wastes and agricultural runoff into our lakes, rivers and streams. Utah spends millions in an effort to syphon water from the dwindling Colorado River to facilitate rapid growth and economic development in Washington County. Utah has outdated water rights and city ordinances that lead to waste and discourage water conservation. Utah irrigates farm fields by flooding them to grow water-intensive hay for cattle feed, and ships much of that hay abroad. Reservoirs and wells are drying and water tables are lowering. The list goes on. Utah is not doing a good job of using and managing water.

   To help address these issues and offer solutions, the Utah Valley Earth Forum (UVEF.org) hosted a public zoom forum with a panel of distinguished experts to discuss "Solving Utah's Growing Water Crisis." Panelists included USU professor Matt Yost; physician and President of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, Brian Moench; UU professor Gabriel Lozada; Utah Rivers Council Executive Director, Zach Frankel; and UU emeritus professor Dan McCool.

   A summary of the solutions offered can be viewed at this link.  

   The link for the recorded version (YouTube) is at UVEF.org.

Solving Utah’s Growing Water Crisis