Utah Legislative Update: Key Water Bills to Watch for Great Salt Lake
We’re now almost four weeks into the Utah legislative session!
While there are few bills focused directly on Great Salt Lake, state lawmakers are working on a slew of proposals that could shape the future of water conservation and management in our state.
Check out the bills and funding requests we’re watching:
Municipal Bills
- H.B. 274: Water Amendments (Rep. Casey Snider) – Requires municipalities to incorporate water conservation into pricing structures by mandating tiered rates for secondary water suppliers and conservation-focused pricing for culinary water. Revenue generated from these rate structures must be reinvested into additional water-saving initiatives.
- Why this matters: For municipal water users, this change would provide a much needed market cue, by increasing the cost of excessive water use on grass and other outdoor areas, and it marks the first step in pricing secondary water use based on consumption instead of a flat rate fee.
- H.B. 328: Water Usage Amendments (Rep. Doug Owens) – Restricts the use of overhead spray irrigation (the technology used to water grass) for all new development and redevelopment of commercial, industrial, institutional, mixed use, or multifamily projects. This restriction does not apply to agricultural development or areas of active use (ie. parks, golf courses, soccer fields, etc).
- Why this matters: This bill would lower the cost of switching to water efficient landscaping by making changes preemptively, makes future growth more attainable by saving municipal water, and sets the precedent to move towards new landscaping necessary in an arid state like Utah.
- H.B. 330: Water Sprinkler Efficiency Requirements (Rep. Doug Owens) – Mandates that sprinkler heads purchased or installed after July 1, 2026 meet WaterSense standards or include built-in pressure regulators to reduce excess water usage.
- Why this matters: Creates an attainable timeline for sprinkler retailers to move towards more efficient technologies and rapidly move the market in a water conservation oriented direction.
- S.B. 80: Drinking Water Amendments (Sen. Scott Sandall) – Creates a fee to fund future water quality testing requirements, and encourages municipalities to adopt tiered water pricing and metering by reducing the fee for water retailers that do so.
- Why this matters: Water retailers control the price of water, and thus the rate of consumption. Providing a reduced fee to prioritize conservation is a win-win for retailers and statewide conservation efforts.
- S.B. 131: Water Commitment Amendments (Sen. Nate Blouin) – Grants water conservancy districts the option to allocate water for use on sovereign lands. Sovereign lands include the entirety of Great Salt Lake below the meander line the Bear River, Colorado River, Green River and the entire Jordan river.
- Why this matters: Including water delivery to sovereign lands in water suppliers’ planning process could play a significant role in getting more water to Great Salt Lake and accounting for future expected water deliveries to the lake.
Agricultural Bills
- H.B. 243: Agriculture Water Optimization Amendments (Rep. David Shallenberger) – Expands funding from the Agriculture Optimization Fund to include agricultural water efficiency research, and increases the subsidy available to farmers up to 75% for specific initiatives such as subsurface drip irrigation and automated surge irrigation.
- Why this matters: Using available funds to study the effectiveness of the ag optimization program will give policymakers the information they need to improve this program and make sure more saved water makes it to Great Salt Lake.
Wildlife Bills
- H.B. 244: Wildlife Management Area Amendments (Rep. Casey Snider) – Directs the WIldlife Board to establish the “Bear River Bay Waterfowl Management Area.” It also removes restrictions on impoundment structures and watercraft access in the Willard Spur Waterfowl Management Area, which could disrupt critical bird habitats.
- Why this matters: establishing the Bear River WMA protects and additional 13,000+ acres of wetlands in perpetuity, for the benefit of wildlife and recreationalists.
- S.B. 92: Golf Course Amendments (Sen. Daniel McCay) – Commissions a study on water use at Utah golf courses, requiring collaboration with golf course operators to identify conservation strategies. While the bill promotes water data collection, it does not impose conservation measures.
Requests for Appropriation (In Order of GTF’s Priorities)
- Great Salt Lake Long Term Water Program – $16 million in one-time funding to increase water leasing and markets dedicated to getting more water to Great Salt Lake. This money will be critical in reaching the state’s goal of 250,000 acre-feet delivered to the lake by 2030, as water leasing is one of the most cost efficient voluntary means of getting water to the lake.
- Addressing Critical Dust Concerns (Rep. Doug Owens) – Proposes $651,100 in one-time funding to hire a full-time employee at the Division of Air Quality to study the health effects of dust from the drying Great Salt Lake and Sevier dry lake bed and install more dust monitors. We currently lack a robust monitoring network making it difficult to track dust events, their impact on Utahns, and how to best mitigate GSL dust in the future.
- Wetland Restoration and Management (Rep. Doug Owens) – Requests $750,000 in ongoing funding to restore wetlands and control invasive species in key conservation areas. Phragmites removal—the focus of this bill—is a low cost means of saving up to 75,000 acre-feet of water for Great Salt Lake.
- Waterwise Landscaper Training and Certification (Rep. Doug Owens) – Seeks $420,000 in one-time funding to develop training programs for landscaping professionals focused on water-efficient practices and irrigation installation.
- Bear River Basin Cloud Seeding Program (Rep. Stewart Barlow) – Requests $2 million in one-time funding and $2.5 million in ongoing funding to support cloud seeding operations aimed at increasing precipitation in the Bear River Basin. Cloud seeding is an unproven means of increasing local precipitation, and we advocate for this money to be used for conservation efforts in place of inefficient geo-engineering technologies.
- Farm and Ranch Protection Funding (Rep. Doug Owens) – Requests $25 million in one-time funding to preserve agricultural land through conservation easements and other protective measures.
What’s Next?
Your voice matters! Join our Thursday lobby days at the Capitol, reach out to your legislators, and help raise awareness about the policies that impact Great Salt Lake. We’re keeping a close eye on key bills and will continue providing updates as they move through the process—sign up to receive our newsletter here and check out the Great Salt Lake Audubon Society’s bill tracker here.
Let’s make the 2025 session a step forward for Great Salt Lake. Together, we can make a difference!