With the population in utah projected to double by 2060 (http://le.utah.gov/audit/15_01rpt.pdf) sources of reliable water will become increasingly important. The Division of Water Resources indicates that in ~25 years Utah’s water demand will outreach its supply. As Utahns have the second highest rate of residential water use (from a 2010 survey http://le.utah.gov/audit/15_01rpt.pdf) this does not seem to be an unlikely timeline. However, there are other dry western states that use less gallons of water per capita per day than Utah (e.g. Nevada ~134 gallons). Also, as noted by a recent audit, projections performed by The Division of Water Resources may have not been entirely accurate (http://le.utah.gov/audit/15_01rpt.pdf). Development of the Bear River does not need to be considered at this time. There is much that can be done to gather more accurate data, such as metering, and to facilitate conservation of water resources going forward. Utah’s current water pricing does not encourage water conservation. The introduction of metered secondary water and steeper rate tiers may provide Utahns with the incentive to conserve water. Spending more than one billion dollars on a Bear River development project before consulting accurate water usage data and implementing much less expensive water conservation measures would be a waste of taxpayer dollars.
