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Letter: Shutting off sprinklers if it rains is a nice gesture. But the LDS Church can have a far greater impact on water conservation.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Sprinklers run at Reservoir Park in the middle of the afternoon heat during peak evaporations times on Monday afternoon, July 19, 2021, near the University of Utah campus.

As the level of the Great Salt Lake is approaching an all-time record low level again, today I heard on National Public Radio how the LDS Church will be installing special gadgets on all of the sprinkler systems on all church properties which will detect when it’s raining and shut off sprinklers so they don’t run when it’s raining.

That’s a nice gesture — since the No. 1 waste of municipal water in the Great Salt Lake watershed is landscape watering. But — has the LDS Church considered how much more water could go to the lake if they simply ripped out all the lawns and switched to xeriscaping all the properties? (Hint, probably at least 50-100 times more water!). And, to model water-wise landscaping for its flock and all our local communities? Now that would be something we would all applaud and would actually make a real difference!

Allison Jones, Murray

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