Utah is in the midst of its worst drought in decades. While state officials have focused on it to explain the water shortage Utah is facing, experts say there’s more to the story.
Brian Richter owns a consulting firm called Sustainable Waters. He said droughts don’t cause water scarcity — people do.
Richter said states in the Colorado River Basin, like Utah, are already using too much water based on the river’s average annual output.
“We really need to take stock of how much water we’re using and what we’re using it for, and start a conversation about whether or not there are things we can do to lessen our dependence on those water supplies,” he said.
Consumption exceeds the Colorado River’s annual flow most years, so suppliers pull water out of reservoirs like Lake Powell and Lake Mead to make up the difference.
But that won’t work forever.
In order to reduce Utah’s overall use and ward off future water shortages, state lawmakers need to step up, according to Zach Frankel with the Utah Rivers Council.
He said one thing elected officials could do to help is force water suppliers to increase tiered rates across the state.
Right now, Utahns pay some of the lowest rates in the West, according to Frankel. A 2010 analysis by the Utah Division of Water Resources found the average water rate in Utah was $1.34 per gallon. Only Idaho’s was lower, at $1.26.
Meanwhile, Utahns use the highest amount of public supply water — meaning it’s delivered by a supplier like a city or service district.
“When we make water really cheap, we make water use really high,” Frankel said. “It’s just consumer behavior.”
The best way to increase rates, according to Frankel, is by bumping the price per gallon up significantly after a customer’s use passes a certain threshold. That way, costs only go up for high-use consumers.
Frankel said water rates in Utah are also heavily subsidized by property taxes. His organization has tried to pass legislation to change that, but he said water service districts in Utah opposed the move.
“If they raise the cost of water, they sell less water, then they’ll make less money,” he said. “They’re water salesmen at some level.”
He said state lawmakers could also invest in infrastructure to stop agricultural water waste, like lining irrigation canals, rather than building expensive pipeline projects to move more water out of reservoirs.