Great Salt Lake Advisory Council released Conservation Impacts Study, which examines the impacts of conservation on Utah water resource planning and large water development projects, which could affect water reaching the already-drying Great Salt Lake. The study concluded significant, yet achievable, conservation could postpone the need for water development projects, particularly those planned in the Bear River area, for another 40 years.
The conservation study, which evaluated four primary water providers in Northern Utah, established the daily average per person water consumption in 2015 was 232 gallons per day in these large water districts. With these current water use habits, prior studies have found Great Salt Lake levels could drop up to another 11 feet in the near future. By reducing the per person water consumption by about 50 gallons a day — a total of 173 gallons per day per person — the study concluded this level of conservation would postpone the need for large water developments such as the Bear River Development Project beyond 2065. Click here to read the full article.