Water

Orem has a new wastewater reuse facility that is projected to save 175 million gallons of drinking water a year and reduce harmful algal blooms at Utah Lake.

Lake Powell’s dire water level forecast is prompting an unprecedented move: transporting a massive marina to deeper waters. It’s another example of how the West’s historically dry, warm year is straining the Colorado River.

Local fishermen are “going to want to get out now, especially if they have a boat,” says the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. The bad snowpack and drought are likely to take their toll.

The three Western states say their proposal would save 3.2 million acre-feet of water through 2028. That’s enough water to serve more than 25 million people a year.

After voting yes on a hyperscale data center to be built in Box Elder County, hundreds of protestors booed the county commissioners out of the building. But as Commissioner Lee Perry explains, their vote wouldn’t have stopped the project.

The owner of the water rights indicated that they will refile at a future date. Protesters who paid the $15 fee will not get their money back, and comments will not carry over to any future applications.

Opponents are filing grievances with the Division of Water Rights. The state engineer will consider those and might hold a hearing before deciding whether to approve the water right’s change of use.

With the worsening drought, the Colorado River is already at a “worst-case scenario,” and Gov. Spencer Cox thinks that may force states to find common ground.

After one of the West's worst snow years on record, communities must live with less water. Around this time of year, home gardeners are starting to grow their own produce as utilities enact outdoor watering restrictions.

The Colorado River states are stuck in negotiations about sharing the river's water. Utah and its neighbors have proposed breaking the standstill with a mediator.

Utah's Great Salt Lake has been labeled an "environmental nuclear bomb" and it has the attention of the president of the United States.

In fast-growing southwest Utah, water conservation is vital. But for people in neighborhoods with a homeowners association, ditching grass lawns can be tricky.