Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
RIVERTON — City officials are asking residents and businesses to cut culinary and secondary water consumption by 25 percent, citing “increasing drought conditions and excessive water use.”
“We realize this may be an inconvenience for some people, but the conditions are such that we are going to have a real problem if we don’t immediately begin to reduce our water use,” Riverton city manager Konrad Hildebrandt said in a prepared statement.
The city estimates about 6 million to 7 million gallons of culinary water and another 30 million to 34 million gallons of secondary water is consumed in the city each day. That’s an average of 683 gallons of culinary water and 2,952 gallons of secondary water each day per household, according to Riverton spokesman Casey Saxton.
Secondary water is untreated and for landscape use. In Riverton, the secondary water comes from Utah Lake for residents and businesses to water their lawns. The water is not metered, which may have caused "excessive consumption," Sexton said.
The overuse has led to water pressure inconsistencies throughout the city, as the water system has been operating above its recommended capacity. While the city built the system with future growth in mind, it wasn’t built for excessive use, Saxton added.
“If people were only using what they need, then we wouldn’t have a problem,” he said. “What happens here in Riverton when people are overwatering or where we see excessive use, is the pressure drops and then nobody can really water their lawn really well because there isn’t enough pressure.”
City officials said they began cutting back watering more than 400 acres of city parks and other green spaces from the recommended 1.83 inches of water per week to 1.5 inches.
“Brown spots are going to show up and we all need to get comfortable with that.” — Scott Hill, Riverton City water director
Scott Hill, the city’s water director, said residents and businesses likely don’t know how much water they use in watering their lawns.
“We know people want to keep their lawns green this time of year, but the fact is, if a lawn is totally green right now, it is being over-watered,” Hill said, in a prepared statement. “Brown spots are going to show up and we all need to get comfortable with that.”
Saxton added that the 25 percent water reduction is voluntary as of Wednesday, but city officials may reevaluate “additional options” if water use remains at its current rate.
“If everyone cuts back a little bit, then we’ll be fine,” he said.
Contributing: Paul Nelson, KSL Newsradio
