Report studies water use

The "new" message is a familiar one to drought- stricken Utahns: You can't take water for granted when you live in a desert.

A report released this week by Western Resources Advocates, a southwestern environmental group, says the same things Utah officials have been saying for years, even if the message has been slow to sink in.

"Our region in the southwestern U.S. is a wonderful place to live. It's home to many rivers, but is considerably much drier," said Bart Miller, water program director of Western Resources Advocates, the primary sponsor of a Tuesday afternoon panel discussion on the newly released report, "Smart Water, A Comparative Study of Urban Water Use Efficiency Across the Southwest."

Miller, the co-author of the report, compiled data from 13 cities around the West — including Taylorsville — that responded to a survey detailing their water use in 2001.

Taylorsville residents were the fourth highest per capita residential water users, behind those living in Tempe and Scottsdale, Ariz., and the No. 1 water guzzler of them all, Las Vegas.

The study compared data from participating cities like Albuquerque, N.M.; Boulder, Colo. and El Paso, Texas. It did not look at cities along the Wasatch Front because many of them, like Salt Lake City, didn't respond to the survey. (Salt Lake City officials say they were too busy writing a drought plan and revising its rate structure, which was a comprehensive citizen-involved undertaking.)

Western Resources Advocates, formerly the Land and Water Fund of the Rockies, used the information to come up with a list of recommendations.

"A lot are common sense, but not common place," Miller said.

Topping the list of suggestions is for cities to adopt water rate structures like Salt Lake City whereby residents who use more water, typically in the summertime, pay more for water.

Other suggestions for municipalities include:

• Offer rebate programs to residents for installing water-saving appliances like low-flush toilets.

• Pass ordinances that encourage xeriscaping or other water conservation measures

• Promote water conservation education.

• Fix leaky pipes to reduce water that is lost and not accounted for.

• Pursue short-term solutions like leasing water from farmers.

• Recycle water for landscaping or irrigation uses.

The report, found on the whole that cities and citizens can be doing much more to conserve water. "We would like to see more water users put more time into water conservation," Miller said.

But it all comes down to people willing to do their part and conserve, noted Stephanie Duer, water conservation manager for Salt Lake City.

"We can write all the laws we want, but there's only one way to save water," she said, "We can't save water unless our customers turn off their tap."

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E-mail: donna@desnews.com