Total water usage for residential lawns and gardens in all of Utah is 6% of the total available (source: KSL News). Even if 100% of that usage was eliminated (a practical impossibility) that would still not be near enough water to even start to mitigate the water shortage in Utah.
“Every little bit helps” may be a nice sentiment, but in reality this little bit does not help. Yet, a story in a recent edition of The Tribune spends most of its space only talking about this useless little bit.
On the other hand, 80% of the water is spent on agriculture (also from KSL News). Recently, I drove through southern Utah by way of U.S. Route 6 and returned by way of I-15. I saw the same thing on both routes: Alfalfa being watered at midday when evaporation is at its highest. Massive wastes of water, used with impunity. The Tribune story explains this away as a “third rail”… untouchable by our representative government. Mathematics is mathematics. The drought is the drought. Wishful thinking, political cowardice and chipping away at useless “little bits” will not solve this problem.
Our government needs to grab that “third rail” and solve this problem.
Richard Evans, Midvale
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