By Russell Page
Despite Utah”s fourth year in a drought, Provo”s water outlook isn”t looking so dry.
“Provo is in the best shape for [water] storage anywhere in the state,” said Jared Hansen, hydraulic engineer for the Bureau of Reclamation Provo Area office. Hansen said the drought cycle has still had its affect on water levels.
“This is one of the longest cycles we have had in recorded history,” Hansen said. “If we have another repeat of the weather this year, there will be some bad problems, but it depends on the area.”
Hansen said the warm weather during the spring actually helps with water levels because it allows water to melt quickly and to drain into the reservoirs.
“Every time it gets cool, what snow does melt gets a lot more chance to soak into the ground,” Hansen said.
Provo gets much of its water from springs in Provo canyon. Deer Creek and Jordanelle reservoirs, which are currently at 70 and 76 percent of their normal fill levels, serve as primary backups, which Provo will likely have to rely on.
“Jordanelle and Deer Creek make a lot of difference having those big pots of water,” Hansen said. “That”s why the reservoirs were built – they were built for times like this, and they are doing their job.”
But Hansen said Northern and Southern Utah aren”t in the same shape as the Provo area.
“They are probably in the worst shape they have been in 15 years or more,” he said.
Water-level outlooks for different water districts all vary, but water users can make the individual difference, Hansen said.
The main culprit of water wasting comes from over-use of water irrigation, Hansen said.
“Half of the drinkable water we have ends up on grass,” said Don Merrill, public involvement specialist for the Provo Area Bureau of Reclamation. He said people need to irrigate better.
Merrill said water users can adjust sprinkling systems for less water output during the spring and fall seasons when the grass needs less water.
Grass doesn”t need to be watered every day and not for hours at a time.
“We”re not going to run out of drinking water,” Hansen said. “The first people that are going to take the hits are the (agricultural) users.”
Utah Department of Natural Resources Water Education/Conservation Chief Lyle Summers said some of Utah reservoirs keep water available for three to five years, but reservoir water levels won”t last as long without precipitation. “Most of the reservoirs would be good for two or three years,” he said.
Summers said the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District, which supplies water to portions of Salt Lake County, doesn”t have the water capacity to keep up with population growth.
“We”re trying to encourage people to just change their water-use habits,” Summers said. “We have to be very careful about how we use our water because we don”t know how long the drought will go on. It takes some kind of an emergency to get people”s attention.”
Hansen said water users were good at conserving water last year.
“Any thing that people do to save water this year will be there for next year,” he said.
