UTAH DROUGHT

A new bill surrounding water use and conservation fails to pass first hurdle

Feb 27, 2023, 4:00 PM

The brine shrimp industry is breathing a sigh of relief thanks to the rising water level of the Gre...

Utah's brine shrimp harvesters are breathing a sigh of relief from all the new water in The Great Salt Lake. (Ben B. Braun, Deseret News)

(Ben B. Braun, Deseret News)

SALT LAKE CITY — If you live in the Great Salt Lake Basin, you’ve dodged a new water restriction bill and may not even know it. 

Representative Doug Owens is sponsoring a bill that would make it illegal to water your lawn before April 25, and after October 1. Furthermore, the bill would require that conserved water to go to the Great Salt Lake. 

Despite the bill not making it out of a committee today, Owens plans to run it again during the Utah Legislature 2022 Interim. 

“Numerous objections from water districts and other water providers, because that presents a complexity for them to make that work,” Owens explained. 

Owens told KSL NewsRadio water districts did not like the bill requiring conserved water to go to the Great Salt Lake. 

“We’re not going to be able to talk water into the lake, we have to actually do things, I don’t think this imposes much of a burden on the public,” said Owens. 

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A new bill surrounding water use and conservation fails to pass first hurdle