North Ogden officials want residents to stop using culinary water to water their lawns
Apr 7, 2026, 8:00 AM | Updated: 8:20 am
North Ogden officials are worried following reports that people are using culinary water to water their lawns. (North Ogden City via Facebook)
(North Ogden City via Facebook)
NORTH OGDEN — North Ogden officials are worried after receiving reports that people are using culinary water to water their lawns.
Their secondary water is being turned on about a week later than it usually is, according to David Espinoza, North Ogden City Public Works director. To bridge that gap, it seems some residents are taking matters into their own hands and tapping into their culinary water.
But it’s troublesome because all of Utah’s water sources are strained this year.
“We’re in the same boat. A lot of our water comes from springs and wells. And if we have to pump a lot more water because someone was using it on their yard, it does strain our system.” said Espinoza.
This comes on the heels of recent notifications from Pine View Water systems letting residents know that their secondary water will be shut off once they reach their full allotment. There are also fines involved. This has officials worried that more people will try to use culinary water when they get close to their allotment.
Right now, there aren’t North Ogden code enforcements in place to stop this. But that could change if this problem gets bigger.
“That is something that we going to start watching really closely,” said Espinoza. “If people started using all of our water resources there for grass and those kinds of things, we would absolutely have to get involved.”
North Ogden Public Works department hopes educating the public will tamp down on the usage. They took to Facebook to try to reach residents and spread the message that we have to conserve all water resources and that it’s OK not to have a perfectly green lawn.
