March 26, 2001-- Reported by News Specialist John Daley
A water shortage along the Wasatch Front means mandatory water restrictions are in the works for residents of the state's largest city.
LeRoy Hooton, Jr./Public Utilities Director: "BEING NOTIFIED THAT WE'RE NOT GOING TO HAVE A FULL ALLOTMENT IN DEER CREEK AUTOMATICALLY PUTS US IN A POSITION THAT WE'RE GOING TO REQUIRE RESTRICTIONS THIS YEAR."
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For weeks hydrologists have warned that mountain snowpack, the source of our water, is at the lowest levels they've seen in decades.
As a result, in the coming weeks Salt Lake City will be initiating an extraordinary conservation campaign that'll include a ban on watering your lawn in the middle of the day.
If it seems to you like the streams are running at more of a trickle, like the reservoirs are gaining shoreline, like the snowpack just doesn't look as deep as usual,
it's because that's exactly what's happening.
State water experts have the numbers to prove it.
Water-wise, levels in northern Utah are the worst they've been since 1961.
Just ask the man who's run Salt Lake City's water department for years.
LeRoy Hooton, Jr./Director/Dept. of Public Utilities: "I'VE BEEN HERE 40 YEARS. AND WE HAVE NEVER HAD THIS SITUATION."
Here's the problem. The canyon streams that feed the Salt Lake Valley are running well below normal.
Couple that with the situation at Deer Creek Resevoir.
The snowpack that feeds it is at less than 60 percent of normal, and Salt Lake has been notified to expect much less water than it usually gets from that source.
What's the final upshot?
Conservation.
In the past, Salt Lake City residents have been urged to cut back on water use.
Though the details have yet to be worked out, Salt Lake City now plans to call for mandatory water restrictions, meaning no outdoor watering between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm, possibly to be enforced with water monitoring patrols and fines.
The city hopes to get plenty of voluntary compliance and will encourage that with a major educational campaign.
They're also looking into developing an alert program, like the "burn" days we have for smog and air quality.
Bottom line, water managers are pulling out the stops to combat what looks like a "40-year drought."
Hooton: "WE ARE IN A WHOLE NEW WORLD AND IN 1961 THERE WERE HALF THE PEOPLE THAT THERE ARE TODAY."
One great way to save water is to get a free water check, or water audit.
An expert will come to your house, check out your home and yard, and help devise ways to save water.
Call 1-877-SAVE-H20.
