Ogden Mayor Won't Jump on Drought Bandwagon

April 23, 2001-- The Mayor of Ogden says there is no water shortage in his city. Yet! And he's not willing to jump on the drought bandwagon.

The Weber Basin Water Conservancy District asked cities in that area for a voluntary ban on outside watering during the daytime. But the Mayor of Ogden refused.

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Conservationists say it's the sort of attitude that costs Utahns hundreds of millions of dollars for unneeded water projects.

Environment Specialist John Hollenhorst explains the controversy.

The sprinklers went on at the Ogden Municipal Building... in the afternoon. No water shortage here, the Mayor says.

MATTHEW GODFREY/OGDEN MAYOR: "WE'RE NOT IN CRISIS MODE AT THIS POINT. IT MAY HAPPEN IN JULY OR AUGUST, BUT AT THIS POINT WE HAVE ADEQUATE WATER SUPPLIES."

He has no plans for a daytime watering ban unless a shortage actually develops. Crying 'wolf!' now, he says, would undermine credibility at a time of real crisis.

MATTHEW GODFREY/OGDEN MAYOR: "WHEN THE WOLF COMES I THINK WE NEED TO PULL THAT CARD AND SAY IT 'S TIME TO TAKE SOME DRASTIC MEASURES."

JOHN HOLLENHORST: "TO THE MAYOR, IT'S SIMPLE. DON'T ACT LIKE THERE'S A CRISIS UNTIL THERE IS ONE. BUT CONSERVATIONISTS SAY THAT'S THE SORT OF ATTITUDE THAT HAS MADE UTAH ONE OF THE MOST WASTEFUL WATER STATES IN THE NATION."

ZACH FRANKEL/UTAH RIVERS COUNCIL: "WHAT WE SAVE FOR TODAY WE HAVE FOR TOMORROW. IF WE HAD SAVED 20 PERCENT OF LAST SUMMER'S WATER USE, OUR RESERVOIRS WOULD BE MUCH HIGHER TODAY."

But the Mayor points out Ogden isn't even using it's share of Pineview Reservoir right now. The Pineview treatment plant is dry because at this time of year the city relies on clean well-water from a seemingly inexhaustible underground aquifer. It runs short only during peak demand in summer.

MATTHEW GODFREY/MAYOR OF OGDEN: "THE PROBLEM ISN'T THAT WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH WATER DOWN IN THE AQUIFER. THE PROBLEM IS THAT WE CAN'T PUMP IT OUT FAST ENOUGH."

Conservationists say no aquifer is an infinite resource. Utahns have to develop a conservation ethic, they say, or they'll spend vast amounts of money on environmentally destructive water projects.

ZACH FRANKEL/UTAH RIVERS COUNCIL: "IT'S DISAPPOINTING THAT THE MAYOR DOESN'T REALIZE THAT SPENDING MONEY ON WATER CONSERVATION MEANS SAVING MONEY IN THE LONG RUN."

The Mayor says the city is working on a long-term conservation strategy. But he doesn't believe in drastic measures for what he calls a "perceived crisis."

Environmentalists say many agencies have a disincentive to preach conservation because their budgets depend on selling water.

But in this case, the Mayor says, money has nothing to do with it.