June 27, 2000

As Utah heads into the dryest month of the year, Salt Lake City is parched and thirsty.

The snow has melted from the mountains, and resevoirs are low.

News Specialist Jed Boal has more on a precarious water situation.

Up here on Little Mountain Summit, you can get a hint of the city's water predicament just by glancing around. There's little water rushing out of the mountains.

Right now there are several factors that add up to a water management headache.

The peaks along the Wasatch Front are nearly bare. The snow disappeared quickly and water run-off was 50% of normal.

We've had less than 10% of the normal rainfall for June.

The public works director says the Valley's thirst for water peaks in the next week and doesn't drop off until September.

LeRoy Hooten/Salt Lake City Public Works: THERE'S LOWER WATER SUPPLY AND HIGHER DEMAND THAN USUAL.

We took Chopper Five to take a look at the reservoirs and saw that all of them are low.

Little Dell is down nearly 30%. Mountain Dell is at two-thirds capacity.

As the mountain run-off dries up, we rely more on this water.

Jed Boal/Eyewitness News: DEER CREEK RESERVOIR IS THE LARGEST WATER SUPPLY FOR THE VALLEY. BUT, LOOK AT THE SHORELINE, IT'S LOWER THAN NORMAL. AS WE HEAD INTO THE PEAK WATER USE MONTHS, WE'RE GOING TO PUT A GREATER DEMAND ON THAT WATER.

LeRoy Hooten/Salt Lake City Public Works: THERE MAY BE SOME RESTRICTIONS ON BOATING IN THE LAKE. BUT IT'S JUST ANOTHER INDICATION THAT WE HAD LESS SNOWPACK AND LESS WATER IN THE RESEVOIRS.

Fortunately, it would take three straight dry years to severely deplete the reservoirs.

For now, water managers will hope for rain and wait and see what happens.

LeRoy Hooten/Salt Lake City Public Works: RIGHT NOW WE FEEL WE CAN MAKE IT THROUGH THIS SUMMER WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS. IF PEOPLE USE WATER WISELY WE CAN GET THROUGH WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS.

Here's a reminder and incentive to conserve. If you live in Salt Lake city your water bill goes up 50% July 1st, and stays at that rate during the peak four months.