By far most Utahns want to stick with voluntary water conservation measures this coming year, even though much of the state received normal or above normal snow pack, a new UtahPolicy poll finds.
Here you can see the snowpack totals as of the end of April.
But even though much of the state had a good water year this past winter, UPD pollster Dan Jones & Associates finds that 82 percent of Utahns want to keep the voluntary water conservation efforts in place.
Eleven percent say we have enough water, and there should be no restrictions on watering lawns, etc.
And 7 percent don’t know.
The 2016 Legislature passed a law requiring all the water districts in the state to come up with new water pricing plans, all aimed at water conservation.
For example, you would pay for your water use on an escalating scale, the more water you use, the greater the price per gallon or acre-foot – however it is measured.
Utah is a desert state – on average Salt Lake City gets around 17 inches of rain/water per year.
Our mountains and the snowpack they build up feed our reservoirs, which provide much of our water throughout the year – with many communities also pumping groundwater to make up their supplies.
Jones finds that Utah Republicans are more likely to believe we have sufficient water, and water restrictions should not apply.
But a great majority of Republicans still want to continue conserving.
- 78 percent say keep water conservation measures in place.
- 14 percent of Republicans say there is now enough water, and we should use what we need without concern.
- Democrats favor keeping water conservation measures, 92-7 percent.
- Political independents say keep the conservation measures going, 83-9 percent.
Jones polled 614 adults from June 8-17. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.95 percent.
