Hello John,

Chandler Rosenberg here, Stewardship Utah’s Great Salt Lake Policy Associate, with some Great Salt Lake updates. 

First and foremost, thank you to everyone who joined us on Saturday for the Rally to Save Our Great Salt Lake. It was an inspirational reminder of the strength of this growing movement. If you missed it, you can catch the recording here.

Chandler Rosenberg speaking during the Great Salt Lake Rally on January 25th, 2025.

Despite the record-setting water years of 2023 and 2024, the lake remains far below healthy levels, teetering on the edge of another record-low elevation with just one dry winter or hot summer. We know that no single legislative session will restore the lake to healthy levels, but it’s critical we continue to show up, emphasize the urgency of this crisis, and advocate for long-term investments.

One week down, six to go! As you may have heard, Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Schulz has called for a moratorium on “major water legislation” this session so the state can evaluate what’s working, what’s not, and invest accordingly. Fortunately, this hasn’t completely hampered progress. There are a few exciting bills and funding requests we’re tracking that would benefit Great Salt Lake.

On the municipal conservation front – Sen. Dan McCay has a bill that would study water use by golf courses and direct the state to create a plan for conservation on state-run courses. This bill failed last session but we’re hopeful that the Legislature understands the need for more proactive conservation, especially amidst the drier winter.

Rep. Doug Owens is running legislation to limit grass for new residential development in the GSL Basin. Lawns gobble up the majority of residential water use in the GSL Basin so this would be a big step in the right direction.

Lastly, Rep. Casey Snider introduced a bill aimed at improving pricing signals for municipal water use. Utah’s approach to water pricing is somewhat unique – residents pay property taxes to wholesale suppliers, along with a low usage-based fee which is partially subsidized by those property taxes. This bill would enable municipalities to incorporate "conservation" into their rate-setting criteria, creating stronger financial incentives to reduce excessive use.

Municipal and industrial use comprises just 19% of total water use in the GSL Basin, but it’s important that we tighten up municipal conservation as much as possible– both to meet the demands of Utah’s tremendous growth projections, and to signal to the agricultural sector that this is a statewide effort.

On the agricultural side, there are a couple of noteworthy developments—small but important steps that underscore just how challenging it is to achieve meaningful water savings in agriculture. These efforts highlight the significant hurdles we face: figuring out what truly works, how to measure progress effectively, and how to gain farmers' buy-in for change.

Rep. Casey Snider has a bill that makes some minor adjustments to the Agricultural Water Optimization Program, incentivizing drip-irrigation projects and increased research into how exactly the state is going to measure on-farm water savings.

Rep. Doug Owens also has a request for appropriations (RFA) aiming to create a split-season leasing guidebook and pilot program. This initiative would help producers understand how they could cut use by temporarily leasing their water rights for part of the growing season while still using water for their crops during the remainder.

Additional funding requests we’re tracking include $651,000 in the Department of Environmental Quality’s budget to support more staffing and monitors to measure dust from the Great Salt Lake – we don’t have a full picture of where the dust is going, what’s in it, or how it impacts Utahns – and $16 million for the Great Salt Lake Commissioner’s Office to lease water for the lake.

Numerous signs and community members from the Great Salt Lake Rally on January 25th, 2025.

Despite the moratorium, work impacting water and the Great Salt Lake is still being done.If you’d like to get more involved, you can join us for GSL Lobby Days every Thursday throughout the session at 9 am in the Copper Room. RSVP here. We’ll continue to keep you posted as these efforts move through the legislative process. 

Onwards,

Chandler Rosenberg,

Great Salt Lake Policy Associate

[email protected]

www.stewardshiputah.org