Utah must stay water-wise

A year ago, a Tooele city employee lamented that as far as water supplies were concerned, "if we don't start getting some better winters, we're in a heap of trouble."

Today, following the heaviest winter snowpack in decades, the state's streams and rivers are running high and reservoirs are filling. But conservation experts throughout the state are still urging Utahns to husband water.

Among several cities checked last week, only two — Tooele and Sandy — were continuing to mandate water rationing this year.

Last year, Tooele allowed residents to water their lawns two days a week, with the schedule based on where they lived, and prohibited Sunday watering to let tanks recharge from springs. This year the same rules will be in place, said Mayor Charlie Roberts.

"The weather pattern may change this summer," he said, and rotating this way is "a good watering practice anyway."

Other water districts and cities contacted did not foresee any mandatory restrictions this year, but all emphasized the need to continue saving water. Murray planned to continue asking residents to turn in profligate water users, who could receive a "water waster notice."

Of other localities surveyed:

• Salt Lake City: Stephanie Duer, water conservation coordinator for Utah's capital, said no residential restrictions were imposed in 2004 because water users "were really good about not exceeding our reduction goals."

But conservation is still strongly stressed.

"Our conservation efforts are not about a drought," she added. They are part of a long-term strategy to sustain the community far into the future.

"Of course, we still have to conserve. And frankly, in August, all this rain will just be a distant memory, and once again we'll have to rely on our reservoirs, and we don't know how long they'll have to sustain us."

Duer warned, "if demand exceeds projected supplies, there'll be restrictions."

• Murray: City water superintendent Danny Astill said Murray is "just going to continue what we have been doing in the past few years with water conservation issues. . . . asking the residents to water later, between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m."

Murray never set up a rotating water-day system. But it did establish a program in which users could ask for experts to check their systems and see if they can improve water efficiency, and that remains in effect.

Also, the "water waster notice" remains in effect, "because the water is not an endless resource," Astill said. "We still need to keep in mind that one year of a lot of water does not break a drought."