Bird, a downtown Riverton resident who uses secondary water for his lawn and for the tomatoes and corn in his garden, said he and his neighbors understand Utah's drought is severe and sacrifices have to be made. However, he believes city officials should take into account the strain on available resources when considering how much growth to allow.

"I agree that we are in a drought period right now, but why does the city keep approving these big, big neighborhoods when we don't have the water to support them?" he said.

He said he has lived in Riverton for more than 20 years. At one time, he paid for secondary use by buying water shares directly from canal companies. Share owners were given specific times of day when they were allowed to use the water. When residents sold their shares to the city, they were told they could use water any time of the day during irrigation season, he said.

"In the end we all knew it was coming, but we have to be smarter when we manage our resources and not let the building take place because we don't have the water," he said.

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E-mail: dsmeath@desnews.com