Governor warns water restrictions could come early with 90% of Utah in ‘extreme drought’

Gov. Spencer Cox speaks during his monthly news conference at PBS Utah in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 18, 2021. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

Utah’s so far ‘avoided the locusts’ in year of crises, but next emergency facing Utah and other Western states is drought

SALT LAKE CITY — First came the COVID-19 pandemic, then a 5.7 magnitude earthquake. Utah may have so far “avoided the the locusts,” Gov. Spencer Cox said Thursday, but not drought.

About half the state, Cox said during his monthly PBS Utah news conference Thursday, is “in the most extreme category of drought.”

Cox issued Wednesday a state of emergency due to drought conditions, with the entire state categorized in moderate drought, and about 90% of the state experiencing “extreme drought.”

“That’s why we’re so concerned,” Cox said. “We continue to pray and encourage people of faith to continue to do that, that we will have more storms. There are some in the forecast that we’re grateful for, but we are going to need Utahns to be especially careful this year.”

Asked about water restrictions, Cox said “we will watch that very closely,” but that will depend on local water districts. He also hinted restrictions might come earlier this year as compared to past years.

“I anticipate, depending on the locale, depending on which reservoir storage you’re under, that we will see restrictions fairly early this year,” Cox said.

Utah is among several Western states in extreme drought, including parts of California, Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.

Mar 16: Extreme drought persists in parts of California, Oregon, Nevada, and the Four Corners states. Exceptional drought still covers much of Nevada into California, as well as Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. https://t.co/hs7rCpQMsY #DroughtMonitor #CAwx #AZwx #NVwx #NMwx #UTwx pic.twitter.com/otsFP0r7O2

— NOAA NCEI Climate (@NOAANCEIclimate) March 18, 2021

Cox urged people to conserve water headed into the spring and summer months “knowing that we are starting at a deficit.” He also reminded Utahns they live in a state that is among the driest in the nation.

Though a series of winter storms have helped, “unfortunately we still have a long ways to go,” Cox said, with the state currently at only about 70% of normal snowpack levels. For snowpack to reach average levels, Utah’s mountains would need to collect the remaining 30% of snow before it starts to melt significantly, which usually happens the first week in April. There is around a 10% chance of this occurring, state officials estimate.

“We had one of the driest falls in recorded history here in the state,” Cox said. “The soil content, the water content of our soil is lower than we’ve seen in a long, long time. And that’s impactful because when the runoff does happen, it will soak into the soil instead of going into our reservoirs.”

Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

Gov. Spencer Cox speaks during his monthly news conference at PBS Utah in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 18, 2021.

Utah’s current soil moisture is at the lowest levels since monitoring began in 2006. The Drought Review and Reporting Committee on Monday recommended the governor issue a drought declaration, which activates the Drought Response Committee.

Cox’s emergency declaration allows drought-affected communities, agricultural producers and others to officially begin the process to gain access to potential state or federal emergency resources.

The last time conditions warranted a drought declaration was when former Gov. Gary Herbert issued an executive order in October 2018. At that time, 99% of the state was in a moderate drought, with over 76% of Utah experiencing at least severe drought conditions.

Meanwhile, state officials and southern Utah leaders continue to move forward with yearslong discussions over plans to build a controversial, 141-mile pipeline from Lake Powell to Washington County, estimated to cost between $1.1 billion and $1.9 billion, according to the Utah Division of Water Resources. After six years of construction, officials estimate water could be in the pipeline by 2030.

“We’ve been very supportive of everything that’s happening there,” Cox said in response to a question about the pipeline Thursday.

“There are a lot of hurdles that obviously have to have to be jumped through for this, but we’re closer than we’ve ever been and moving this forward,” Cox said. The Utah Legislature passed a bill, which he signed this week, to create the Colorado River Authority, funded to the tune of $9 million in one-time money and $600,000 of ongoing money. The new authority was created to “protect” Utah’s interest in the Colorado River, which feeds Lake Powell.

Cox also said state officials will work with President Joe Biden’s administration “as we go through the permitting process.”

“We’re close and hope to have those things moving forward this year so we can actually get started on the project,” Cox said.

This story will be updated.

from Deseret News https://ift.tt/3bX3yiG