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A Look at Water Conditions in the Second-Driest State
Utah is the second-driest state in the nation and home to over 2.6 million people. When Utah experiences drought conditions, water becomes a high-priority issue for Utah voters. Utah’s water supply and quality ranked as the seventh most important concern in the 2008 Utah Priorities Survey. To help voters and candidates understand the issue better, this brief provides information on drought conditions, precipitation, water storage, water usage, and water quality in Utah.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:56 am
This report confirms that Utah should not sign an agreement with Nevada to mine groundwater from Utah’s West Desert. We out here in Snake Valley who are opposing the Las Vegas pipeline project which will affect the aquifer profoundly in Utah (UTGS Investigation 254, 2005) know water is limited.
We in the west desert feel the Huntsman administration is in a rush to sign an agreement when very little of the science is known, or planned to be studied RE: impacts of such large-scale groundwater mining (50,000 care feet/year for 70 years). Groundwater tables will drop almost immediately 100 feet and vegetation die off will result in dust storms pointed at the Wasatch Front.
See: http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700259803,00.html?pg=1
September 18th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Thanks Terry, I wish we’d had more time in researching this brief, and we could have delved into the Snake Valley controversy.