Two state water experts recently met with Dr. Liam Fox, a global water specialist and author of the recently released book “The Coming Storm: Why Water Will Write The 21st Century,” to discuss how to improve water security in Utah.

“We are seeing more extremes in our water supply. We are seeing hotter heat waves (and) drier droughts. In 2021 (and) 2022, we saw some of the worst droughts on record, at least in our lifetimes,” Candice Hasenyager, director of the Utah Division of Water Resources, told the crowd gathered at the Museum of Natural History on Friday.

“And then, in 2023, we experienced one of the largest snowpacks nationwide that we’ve seen since records began.”

Long-term solutions to the resources Mother Nature provides are complex due to the uncertainty of a region’s supply. Utah is the fastest-growing state in 2024 and has similarly increasing water, agricultural, and recreational needs. Across all political camps, there is a realization that Utah’s water supply must be secured.

Fox, a Conservative Party member and former British defence minister, said he had always been surprised that environmental issues seemed to have a left-wing bias.

“As a conservative, I believe that stewardship of the resources we have been given is a God-given duty that we should openly embrace in a conservative agenda,” he said, adding that he believes planning for the future should focus on humanitarian and ethical concerns.

“If you’re well fed and drinking a lot of water, you have a lot of problems because you’re thinking about everything else in your life. But if you’re hungry or thirsty, you have a problem,” Joel Ferry, who was appointed executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox in 2022, told Deseret News. “We want to address these problems before they get so grim and bleak.”

Utah’s steps toward conservation and sustainability

Hasenyager said that after the severe droughts of recent years, Utah state policymakers have begun to take the problem of water scarcity more seriously.

“The legislature has appropriated about a billion dollars for water conservation, for our infrastructure, for the problems of the Great Salt Lake and the Colorado River, so just a significant amount of investment,” she said. “And there have been a significant number of changes in water policy, including some of the most progressive, I would say, in Utah compared to the rest of the Western states.”

“Use it or lose it” was the slogan for water management in the western U.S. Water rights owners in Utah had to use the water they were allocated or risk losing their rights, which at times led to poor water use. “But now, because of some of the policies put in place, an irrigation company can apply to modify the water saved to use it in another way,” Hasenyager added.

A bill passed in the House earlier this year and signed by Governor Cox made it possible to grant a water right to the Great Salt Lake. “For Utah’s 150-year history, the policy of the state of Utah has been to waste any water that went into the Great Salt Lake,” Ferry said. “We have made it possible for a body of water like the Great Salt Lake to now be granted a water right.”

Federal government measures at the Great Salt Lake

Utah Senator Mitt Romney, along with Representatives John Curtis and Burgess Owens and former Representative Chris Stewart, helped pass the Great Salt Lake Recovery Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022. The act authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to study the condition of salt lakes in the Great Basin, including the Great Salt Lake, to assist with management and protection plans. The act also funds a study of the problems caused by the drought at the lake and potential solutions.

Last week, Romney said he had secured funding for these programs as part of the Senate budget process. The funding bill still needs to be passed by the full Senate and House of Representatives.

“For the past several years, my top priority has been to preserve and protect our iconic Great Salt Lake,” Romney said in a press release. “I am pleased that the House Appropriations Committee is providing funding for my bill, which complements the State of Utah’s work to develop a permanent solution to save our Great Salt Lake. We are one step closer to ensuring this important body of water remains part of our landscape and ecosystem for many generations to come.”

In February, the Biden administration released plans related to the bipartisan infrastructure bill that allocated $43 million to upgrade Utah’s water infrastructure. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Utah has received over $175 million in funding for water infrastructure projects since 2022. The Utah Department of Environmental Quality administers the funds and aims to protect public health and conserve water.

“When you look at the policies, you see that they are very comprehensive and cover everything from how we manage agricultural waters to how we manage new developments,” Ferry said. “We’re an incredible state, a beautiful state, and we’re constantly doing more for these efforts because we recognize the need.”