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John Hollenhorst ReportingNot so long ago, many of us were worrying about a drought, and we did a pretty good job of water conservation. State officials are concerned that the conservation effort may start to lose momentum and they're launching another campaign to "Slow the Flow."
We're in the second pretty good water-year in a row. But experts say if we don't do a better job of saving water, we could all pay for it later.
Actually, they say Utahns deserve a big pat on the back for doing a good job of water conservation. We cut our use by almost 15 percent during the drought years. But growth projections suggest we'll eventually outgrow our water supply. We need to conserve more, state officials say. Otherwise future regulations on water use are likely to be much stricter, and it will cost tons of money to deliver more and more water.
That's a hard message to get across in a year when there seems to be adequate water in most parts of the state.
Gary Herbert, Lt. Governor: "But we also know that weather patterns, like business cycles, come in a rotation pattern. We've had a drought in the past; we're going to have a drought in the future. And we need to prepare for that drought of the future today when we're having better water years."
Look for TV ads starting next week. They focus on a small part of the problem, how to water a little brown spot in your lawn without wasting lots of water.
