Utahns baked through a five-year drought to begin this decade, but a couple of winters with adequate rain and snowfall brought relief. Now, though, a winter with one of the most paltry snowpacks on record, followed by the hottest summer in the state's history, have people wondering if we're back in a dry cycle.

Which brings us to water conservation. You may have thought it went out of style.

Think again.

Utah ended the water year last Sunday, and because of the poor snowpack last winter and the hot summer that followed, major reservoirs have that empty-bathtub look. A wet winter would help to refill them, but it's anyone's guess whether Mother Nature will be generous.

In the meantime, Utahns might want to remind themselves why outdoor water conservation is such a good idea.

Conserving water will save big bucks as the population continues to grow because the easily developed sources of municipal water already have been tapped. The few sources that remain will be very expensive.

By comparison, saving water is cheap and much easier on the environment.

Utahns had cut their home water consumption by about 20 percent in recent years, but over the last couple, when precipitation was relatively plentiful, we relaxed our conservation efforts and usage crept back up. It is a cruel irony that the hot summer of 2007 actually made it harder for Utahns to conserve; they had to put more water on their yards just to keep them alive.

Nevertheless, outdoor watering still is the low-hanging fruit in water conservation because about 69 percent of municipal water goes to home use, and about 65 percent of that goes on lawns and gardens.

Now that we're at the end of the gardening season, it's time to turn off the sprinklers and drain them. No one should be watering now.

Over the winter, people can make plans to conserve water next summer. A good place to begin is www.slowtheflow.org.

Utahns are making progress. Many retail utilities have restructured their rates to encourage conservation. Xeriscapes are popping up, especially on parking strips. Some cities have passed landscape ordinances that require use of water-wise native plants and zonal irrigation.

But we've got to keep paddling.