As water year ends, reservoirs around Utah are in a “good place”

SALT LAKE CITY — As the water year in Utah comes to an end on Saturday, reservoirs are at about 77% of capacity. That’s 27% higher than normal.

KSL Chief Meteorologist Kevin Eubank tells KSL NewsRadio the Salt Lake City area gets a little more than 15 inches of rain during an average year. In the last several years, however, Salt Lake City was well below that.

This year, Salt Lake City has received 18 inches of water. 

“We’re in a really good place,” Eubank said. “We’ve got more water in our reservoirs than we typically do. And the outlook going into fall and winter is above precipitation.”

He says this will be the wettest year since 2019.

“Because of the incredible winter that we had and all of that snow,” Eubank said. “And then the pattern just continued right on into spring, right into summer with above average precipitation across the state.”

Eubank says if the state can have another average to above-average winter, it will go a long way to helping get reservoir numbers back up to where they need to be. Additionally, Eubank also says another strong winter will also help level numbers at places such as Bear Lake and Lake Powell.

Eubank also says residents have practiced good conservation habits, by using 20% less water than what is usually used.

“We’re being good stewards of that water and that’s allowed us to keep more water up in our reservoir,” Eubank said. 

The water year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.

Mark Jones contributed to this story.

Read more:

• Official: Water use will meet future needs in Washington County
• Utah water official warns Utahns to stay vigilant on water use