This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
If you live in Riverton, get ready to kiss your green lawn goodbye.
The low water level in Utah Lake is about to force state engineer Kent Jones to shut off the flow to secondary water users — a mandatory cutoff triggered when the lake reaches 125,000 acre-feet.
The nearly 41,000 residents of Riverton will be the ones most directly affected because the city has no other water source for lawns and gardens. The cutoff of lake water will leave the city's secondary system without enough pressure to operate.
Draper residents also use Utah Lake as the source for their outside watering, but Jones said Draper Irrigation Co. is believed to have alternate sources. The same is true with Kennecott, another Utah Lake secondary-water-rights holder.
The lake already appears to be "significantly below the compromise level of 125,000 acre feet," Jones said Friday as he was reviewing a draft letter to issue the cutoff order. "That officially marks a level where secondary storage rights have to be restricted and [users] can't use that water anymore."
He anticipates the order will go out Friday unless something dramatic happens in the meantime.
"We're probably going to start that regulation," he said.
Riverton leaders have a good idea of what's coming, but they're trying to do what they can to keep the flow going as long as possible.
The City Council on Tuesday will vote on a proposed mandatory watering schedule. The plan is to ban outdoor watering on Sundays and allow it west of 2700 West only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. East of 2700 West, watering would be permitted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Mayor Bill Applegarth realizes the mandate probably won't avert the impending shut-off of Utah Lake water. But he hopes it can delay it.
"Even if can just extend it a week or two because we do this, that will be beneficial to everybody," Applegarth said Friday.
The city is urging residents to voluntarily leave their sprinklers off Sunday and water only on designated days in the meantime. The mayor also hopes people cut back on watering.
When the shut-off occurs, he said, "it's over. We do not have any other source to carry our [secondary] system if we do not have Utah Lake water."
Once that happens, residents will have to decide whether to let their lawns go dormant early or revert to the primary drinking water system.
Those who decide to keep the grass green — either with a sprinkling system equipped with a back-flow valve or by dragging a hose — will have to prepare for a big hit in their water bills. Culinary water is many times more expensive than secondary water.
"Every household is going to have to assess how they handle the situation," said Applegarth. "For me, I'm going to keep my flowers and my roses and my vegetable garden alive with culinary water." But he's resolved to letting his drought-resistant grass go brown, confident it will come back to life next spring.
Riverton faced a similar water shortage in 2004, but the cutoff of lake water then didn't happen until early September.
"This drought we've had for five years has taken a toll on the lake," Applegarth said, and with many days of hot August weather ahead, the situation appears more dire.