We’re all starting to wonder about water this summer–are regular snowstorms a thing of the past? 94% of Utah is in a drought and currently, the Great Salt Lake is at 35% of its capacity and healthy level. Is this year a genuine wake-up call to get prepared? 

Imagine this. You wake up to a glorious two-minute shower since you only take them twice/week. Your shower greywater fills buckets needed for cleaning and to fill the toilet, unless you’ve converted to a self-composting toilet. After eating a low-water breakfast, you travel to a natural spring to get in queue for your restricted quota to fill jugs for drinking water – hoping that another fight doesn’t break out today. Your car is filthy, and all pools and fountains are dry, as there are bans for such luxuries. 

You return home to your brown landscape and authorities checking your neighborhood for leaks and to remind families of water quotas – ⅓ of the usual before the drought. They reveal water map posters revealing which of your neighbors are overusing water. You look forward to flushing your toilet that night for your family of four as you try to keep it to two flushes a day. 

True story. In 2014, Cape Town, South Africa had six full reservoirs of water for their 4 million residents. Drought evolved, and four years later, they were at 26% capacity. Once 14% was reached, city officials would cut all taps to reach ‘Day Zero.’ Fortunately, rain arrived, and dam levels slowly recovered. Water restrictions were eased, but the water-scarcity threat still looms today–people and government have changed their ways. During the crisis, the city implemented ways to capture water, including desalination of seawater, in addition to aggressive water management with agriculture, leaks, and more. While they were able to avert Day Zero in 2018, they are now better prepared for Mother Nature in the future. 

In Utah, over 70% of water is used for agriculture, 15% for municipal and industrial and 5-10% for miscellaneous. So what can we do as individuals if so much is used for agriculture? Check out growtheflowutah.org to learn of ways to get involved. In the meantime, plan wisely for this summer by reducing your turf and conserving around the home–in the kitchen, laundry room and bathroom (including peeing in the shower). We all have personal bank accounts – that money is ours. But, as citizens, we share our air, water, and land. We need to do our part to prevent a water crisis before it gets worse–this could be the summer to start.  

By Mary Closser