We’re halfway through the 2026 Utah Legislative Session! Thank you to everyone who has joined us for our Lobby Days, reached out to your representatives, or taken any action to support Great Salt Lake. This session has produced more substantial legislation supporting Great Salt Lake than we’ve seen in the past two years—and your support has been crucial to that progress.
Let’s keep the momentum going through the rest of the session! Strong public backing is needed to ensure that these important water reforms become law.
This Legislative Session, Grow the Flow is focused on three key priority areas:
- Water market reform to make leasing water rights from agriculture and municipalities as seamless as possible. Leasing is currently the best tool available to get water to the lake now, but it is riddled in unnecessary roadblocks slowing down the program’s success exponentially.
- Municipal regulation and turf removal focused on ensuring new development in the Great Salt Lake Basin prioritizes water conservation, while existing property owners receive the incentives necessary to reduce the cost of removing grass lawns with water efficient landscaping.
- Robust and sustained funding to support water leasing, turf removal, infrastructure improvement, invasive species mitigation, and improved monitoring.
Here’s an update on the legislation we’re watching this session:
Support – High Priority
Reach out to your elected officials in support of these bills!
HB 348: Dedicated Water Amendments (Rep. Jill Koford)
Clarifies and strengthens the “dedicated water” process and related instream flow steps, with additional reporting/accountability tools. (Status: House 2nd Reading)
- Background: To lease or donate water to Great Salt Lake, a Utah water rights holder must file a change application with the State Engineer to convert their right to an instream flow, which allows the water to remain in the river system instead of being diverted for a consumptive use. Currently, this process requires time-intensive permitting and costly legal hours making leasing or selling water to Great Salt Lake inaccessible to the average water user.
- What HB 348 Does: HB 348 creates a new type of application—a Dedicated Water Application—that allows a water rights holder to dedicate some of their water to 1) an instream flow 2) sovereign lands or 3) certain reservoir deliveries without permanently changing their underlying water right. Importantly, this bill directs the State Engineer to prioritize processing these applications and authorizes the state engineer to require reporting in order to track and verify dedicated water. There are guardrails to limit how often the same agricultural field can be removed from a full-irrigation season.
- Why it’s Important: This bill creates a more flexible, streamlined pathway for voluntary water donations (including temporary, fixed-time, or split-season leasing). It helps improve one of Utah’s biggest structural bottlenecks in restoring water to Great Salt Lake.
HB 410: Water Leasing Amendments (Rep. Jill Koford)
Creates GSL Preservation Program and appropriates $5M in FY2027 to run. (Status: House 2nd Reading)
- Background: Currently, leasing water to Great Salt Lake is difficult to scale. Most leases require a time-intensive, case-by-case approval process. Even when leases are approved, there are also concerns about whether that donated water will make it to Great Salt Lake. These barriers make leasing inaccessible or unattractive for many water users.
- What HB 410 Does: HB 410 creates a new Great Salt Lake Preservation Program, associated board, and a $5M appropriation that would provide a standardized, state-run pathway to lease water for the benefit of Great Salt Lake. The program would set lease rates, accept and rank applications, award leases, streamline applications, and require measuring, monitoring, and reporting.
- Why It’s important: This program makes it easier to lease water at scale, and ensure leased water is tracked and delivered to Great Salt Lake. It also allows for private donation of funds, providing an impactful avenue for philanthropy to support water leasing efforts.
HB 328: Water Usage Modifications (Rep. Clinton Okerlund)
Restricts overhead irrigation for certain new development/redevelopment (with exceptions), helping reduce outdoor water waste. (Status: House 2nd Reading)
- Background: One of the biggest sources of avoidable outdoor urban water waste is overhead spray irrigation (like sprinklers) used on turf that isn’t meant for active use (like strips of grass, parking lot islands, or fenced off areas).
- What HB 328 Does: HB 328 restricts the use of overhead spray irrigation on nonfunctional turf for certain new development and major redevelopment projects within the Great Salt Lake drainage. Starting January 1, 2027, owners of specified properties (like commercial, institutional, mixed-use, multifamily projects, and common area landscaping in HOAs) generally cannot install or use overhead sprinklers to irrigate turf that is primarily decorative rather than actively used. Single-family homes, agricultural land, schools, state/local government grounds, and certain other categories are exempt.
- Why It’s Important: This bill helps reduce long-term water waste and makes sure future growth is water-smart.
HB 155: Water Rates Amendments (Rep. Doug Owens)
Requires utilities to create three tiers for residential water pricing, which awards low water use and creates a market signal for excessive outdoor use by increasing the price per gallon. (Status: House 1st Reading)
- Background: The vast majority of Utah’s urban water usage—96% of all depletions— comes from outdoor watering for lawns and landscaping. One of the easiest ways cities can reduce waste is through water pricing that rewards efficient use and makes very high water consumption more expensive. Some cities already use tiered rates, but the structure and conservation incentives aren’t consistent across the state.
- What HB 155 Does: HB 155 strengthens Utah’s rules for how water providers set residential water rates by requiring tiered pricing, also called “block rates.” By July 1, 2027, retail water providers that supply outdoor water must have at least three tiers for residential customers: normal indoor use, reasonable indoor and outdoor use, and excessive use. This bill incentivizes those who use the most water to cut back by requiring rates to reflect “a clear price signal or financial incentive to a customer to consider reducing” water use.
- Why It’s Important: According to the 2026 GSL Strike Team Report,Municipal & Industrial use accounts for 26.3% of the diverted water in the Great Salt Lake Basin, a higher percentage than previously estimated. Cutting back on urban outdoor water usage is key to restoring Great Salt Lake.
SB 250: Great Salt Lake Amendments (Sen. Nate Blouin)
Transfers money from the Watershed Infrastructure Restricted Account (WIRA) to the Great Salt Lake Fund for the purposes of acquiring water through leasing and purchasing for Great Salt Lake. (Status: Held in Committee)
- Background: WIRA is currently earmarked for major developments like the Bear River Development—a multi-billion dollar project that would divert 220,000 acre-feet of water away from Great Salt Lake annually.
- What SB 250 Does: Reallocates $200 million from WIRA to the Great Salt Lake Account. Appropriates $1.5 million from the General Fund to the Great Salt Lake Commissioner’s Office and requires that these funds be used for leasing or acquisition of water rights for inflow to Great Salt Lake.
- Why It’s Important: Moving funds from WIRA to the Great Salt Lake would have dual benefits: reduce funding for harmful development projects and ensure dedicated funding is available to secure water for Great Salt Lake through leases and acquisitions. This bill demonstrates that funding exists to meet the scale of the Great Salt Lake crisis—it is a question of how those resources are prioritized.
Oppose – High Priority
HB 60: Water Rights Amendments (Rep. David Shallenberger)
Changes how the State Engineer evaluates water-rights applications and protests. (Status: Passed House, in Senate Committee)
HB 60 has been revised: The substitute bill shifts the public welfare review away from broader categories of impacts and toward a tighter, water-specific framework for approval and rejection decisions.
While the substitute is a step in a better direction, we still have concerns about how HB 60 could reduce meaningful public oversight of water rights decisions by limiting due process and judicial review.
Background: Under current law, the State Engineer reviews permits for new water rights (applications to appropriate water) and changes to existing water rights (change applications). The State Engineer can deny a water right or change application if it is detrimental to the public welfare—which allows the State Engineer to consider impacts like public safety, public access, large community impacts, harm to the public’s environment, or conflicts with bigger public priorities. Even if a proposal does not directly impair another person’s water rights, it still might cause broader harm—like shrinking wetlands, more dust exposure, and public health risks.
- Background: Under current law, the State Engineer reviews permits for new water rights (applications to appropriate water) and changes to existing water rights (change applications). The State Engineer can deny a water right or change application if it is detrimental to the public welfare—which allows the State Engineer to consider impacts like public safety, public access, large community impacts, harm to the public’s environment, or conflicts with bigger public priorities. Even if a proposal does not directly impair another person’s water rights, it still might cause broader harm—like shrinking wetlands, more dust exposure, and public health risks.
- Under current law, anyone can file protests and raise concerns about a water right or change application.
What HB 60 Does:
- Narrows “Public Welfare”: Limits what the State Engineer can consider as “public welfare” to beneficial use and quantity, quality, or availability of water, reducing the State Engineer’s ability to consider broader community harms like public health, environmental collapse, or downstream consequences.
- In Practice: While the State Engineer may not rely on the public welfare standard frequently in practice today, we oppose narrowing a safeguard that communities should be able to rely on as Utah’s water challenges grow.
- Limits Protests: Directs the State Engineer to only consider protests to the extent that they match the legal grounds the State Engineer may use to approve or deny an application.
- In Practice: This may streamline the process by narrowing protests to issues the State Engineer can act on, but it could also make it harder for the public—especially people without water rights—to raise broader public-interest concerns during the permitting process.
- Makes Court Challenges Harder: Narrows who is considered an “aggrieved person” for the purposes of judicial review, limiting court challenges to those who have experienced a direct, personal harm.
- In Practice: Courts already require “standing” (a particularized injury) to sue. HB 60 further narrows this standard, which may reduce lawsuits from people with no direct stake in a water right decision—but could also limit public accountability when harm is cumulative and widely shared.
Reach out to your elected officials in opposition to this bill.
SB 198:Water Project Management Amendments (Sen. Scott Sandall
Creates the Office of Water Management within the Division of Water Resources to assist in managing water projects within the state. This office will also oversee WIRA funds. (Status: Held in Senate Committee)
- We oppose this bill because of the sweeping changes it makes to the current processes in place on how we manage water as a state. The bill gives the office the authority to serve as a retail water provider and purchase shares into irrigation companies, which is a clear demonstration of government overreach and control of processes currently managed by the private sector.
Other Bills We Support
HB 247: Great Salt Lake Funding Amendments (Rep. Raymond Ward)
Directs brine shrimp tax revenue into an account dedicated to Great Salt Lake benefits. (Status: House 2nd Reading)
HB 509: Wetlands Modifications (Rep. Doug Owens)
Requires the Utah Department of Natural Resources to complete a study of the status of wetlands in Utah and recommend actions to mitigate wetland loss and improve wetland health before Oct. 30, 2027. (Status: House 1st Reading)
HB 296: Water Commitment Amendments (Rep. Hoang Nguyen)
Allows municipalities to commit water to Great Salt Lake in their state-mandated conservation plans. This could create an opportunity for cities to lease or donate surplus water to the lake instead of storing it in reservoirs for future use. (Status: Passed House, in Senate Committee)
HB 400: Landscaping Water Amendments (Rep. Doug Owens)
Requires cities and counties in the Great Salt Lake basin to mandate water-efficient landscaping in new development by Nov. 1, 2027. (Status: in House Rules Committee)
HB 489: Water Infrastructure Amendments (Rep. Thomas Peterson)
Attempts to reduce permanent stormwater capture and require faster downstream release to keep more water moving through the Great Salt Lake watershed. (Status: House 1st Reading)
HB 490: Water Optimization Reporting Amendments (Rep. Doug Owens)
Requires the state to study how much water is classified as agricultural use and whether any of that water is being used for non-agricultural purposes by Nov. 30, 2026. (Status: in House Committee)
SB 46: Water Wise Landscaping Amendments (Sen. Keven Stratton)
Limits non-functional turf and requires water-wise landscaping and outdoor water-use reductions at new or renovated state government facilities. (Passed Senate, House 2nd Reading)
SB 252: Water Usage at State-owned Facilities Amendments (Sen. Stephanie Pitcher)
Requires irrigation audits, efficiency standards, and low-water landscaping practices at state government facilities to reduce outdoor water use. (Status: In Senate Rules Committee)
HB 76: Data Center Water Policy Amendments (Rep. Jill Koford)
Requires large data centers to coordinate with water providers and report water-related information before construction and annually. (Status: Passed House, Senate 1st Reading)
HB 154: Water Loss Study Amendments (Rep. Doug Owens)
Directs the state to study water loss and report findings so Utah can reduce leaks and waste. (Status: House 2nd Reading)
SB 130: River Restoration Amendments (Sen. Lincoln Fillmore)
Expands and coordinates Jordan River improvement work, creates matching grants to improve recreation access along the river, and requests $2M in one-time funds for Jordan River restoration efforts. (Status: Passed Senate, in House Committee)
HB 93: Goshen Bay Waterfowl Management Area (Rep. Doug Welton)
Creates the Goshen Bay Waterfowl Management Area. (Status: Passed House, Senate 1st Reading)
HB 313: Landscaper Certification Amendments (Rep. John Arthur)
Requires licensed landscapers to complete continuing education that includes water-conservation topics (like drought-tolerant plants, soil water retention) and fire-mitigation techniques. (Status: Held in Committee)
Other Bills We Oppose
HB 349: Statewide Water Shortage (Walt Brooks)
Establishes a process for using funds from the Water Infrastructure Restricted Account to construct dams and reservoirs and to fund other projects that increase water storage in the state. (Status: House 2nd Reading)
- We oppose this bill because its impact is ambiguous. It could be used to fund infrastructure projects—such as the Bear River Development—that are detrimental to Great Salt Lake by storing water upstream that would otherwise flow to the Lake.
SB 234: Rulemaking Amendments (Sen. Brady Brammer)
Makes it more difficult for Utah state agencies to adopt environmental regulations that are stricter than federal standards. It also increases legislative authority to delay or prevent those rules from taking effect. (Status: Senate 2nd reading)
- We oppose this bill because it could limit Utah’s ability to adopt stronger environmental protections needed to respond to unique challenges like toxic Great Salt Lake dust.
SB 225: Public Corporation Amendments (Sen. Jerry Stevenson)
Under current law, commercial or industrial development on all Utah Inland Port lands must use less than 200,000 gallons of water a day in order to receive property tax differentials (tax incentives that reduce property taxes to support or attract development). SB 225 proposes to restrict this requirement to Inland Port facilities located in Salt Lake City. (Status: Senate 2nd Reading)
- We oppose this bill because it weakens incentives for water conservation by allowing the Utah Inland Port Authority to fund commercial developments that use over 200,000 gallons of water per day if those projects are outside of Salt Lake City (but within the Great Salt Lake Basin).
