[0:00] Okay, good morning everybody and

[0:01] welcome. Uh those of you that are here

[0:03] in person and those online, it's great

[0:05] to be with you today.

[0:08] Uh

[0:09] I will go ahead and call this meeting to

[0:11] order and declare that we have a quorum.

[0:14] Uh we normally do uh introductions. I

[0:17] think we will try to do those again, but

[0:18] we'll try to do them quick. And I

[0:20] apologize to the folks online. I've

[0:22] never figured out how to do that very

[0:24] effectively. But maybe we can start with

[0:26] the uh council members and liaison that

[0:28] are se seated at the front. So Darren,

[0:30] maybe we could start with you just

[0:32] introduce yourself. And that's again

[0:34] folks, this is just so that you know who

[0:35] all the players are. If if you've been

[0:37] meaning to talk to somebody that has a p

[0:39] a particular affiliation, this gives you

[0:41] the ability to know who those people

[0:43] are.

[0:44] >> So Darren Hess represent public water

[0:46] suppliers.

[0:49] >> Good morning. Jessica Wade uh

[0:50] representing Bureau of Land Management.

[0:54] Elizabeth Kitchens representing

[0:55] conservation.

[0:57] Uh

[0:57] >> Tyler Smith on the military leaison with

[1:00] the Department of Veterans and Military

[1:01] Affairs.

[1:03] >> John Croft, Davis County Commission.

[1:07] >> Angela Gong, forestry, Fire and State

[1:09] Lands.

[1:10] >> Tim Hawks representing aquaculture.

[1:13] >> Brad Perry, uh representing Northwestern

[1:16] Bam Shy Nation.

[1:17] >> Layen Meyers, sewer people.

[1:21] Tom Ward.

[1:22] >> Tom Ward representing m municipalities.

[1:25] >> I'm I'm Jeff Richards. I represent the

[1:27] migratory bird production areas.

[1:30] >> Heidi Hovind, director of Gilmore

[1:32] Sanctuary and vice chair and liaison of

[1:35] the Jordan River Wershed Council.

[1:38] >> Trevor Nelson, liaison member from the

[1:40] Bear River Wershed.

[1:43] >> Joe Hav mineral extraction.

[1:48] Uh, Emma Whitaker, Forestry, Fire and

[1:50] State Lands.

[1:53] >> Vindus, Friends of Great Salt Lake.

[1:58] Representative Joel Kofford, House

[1:59] District 10.

[2:03] Hannah Fes, Deputy Commissioner, Great

[2:05] Salt Lake.

[2:06] >> Jeff Denlaker, Jacobs Engineering.

[2:11] » Maria Monur, Northwestern Shosonyi.

[2:18] Um, Andrea Nelson with Congressman

[2:20] Burgess Owens.

[2:23] >> Amy Wixs with Utah Rivers Council and

[2:26] the Great Salt Lake water keeper.

[2:30] » Eric McCully, wershed scientist.

[2:34] >> Marissa Weinberg, Great Salt Lake

[2:36] Sentinel Landscape.

[2:38] >> Laura Vernon, water resources.

[2:41] >> R. Jeffrey Hicks, Utah Airboat

[2:42] Association.

[2:44] >> Bronte D. Roshi, Great Salt Lake

[2:46] Watershed Enhancement Trust.

[2:51] » Dana Baxley, the Nature Conservancy.

[2:55] >> Nathan Dows, Cash Water District,

[2:59] >> Georgie Corkery, Great Silic Institute

[3:01] and Ottabon,

[3:02] >> Ben Styman, Forestry, Fire and State

[3:04] Lands.

[3:05] >> We got Jen and Paul in the back. And we

[3:07] missed a section right here. Right.

[3:10] Uh, Bryce Pulver, SWCA Consultants.

[3:14] >> Joel Williams, Division of Water

[3:15] Resources.

[3:18] >> Jan Striple, League of Women Voters.

[3:23] » Steph McInness, Division of Water

[3:24] Resources.

[3:27] >> Okay, I think that's got it. Uh, we

[3:29] won't try to do the online folks, but

[3:31] acknowledge we've got a at least 25 as I

[3:34] can see it folks online. We appreciate

[3:36] you being with us. Uh, want to express

[3:38] my appreciation to Angela who always

[3:41] does such a great job putting together

[3:42] agendas and hurting cats. There are a

[3:44] lot of cats to be hurted. Jen and Paul

[3:47] in the back. Um, and folks in Salt Lake

[3:49] for helping with the AV to make this

[3:51] whole thing work. I did want to

[3:52] acknowledge and I don't know if she's on

[3:54] the line, uh, Katherine Caner. Uh,

[3:57] Katherine is, uh, nomally will be

[4:01] representing Salt Lake County on the

[4:03] council. Um, but she's got to go through

[4:06] the uh advice and consent through the

[4:09] Senate. So, appointment by the governor

[4:10] and then advice and sent through the

[4:12] Senate. So, it'll be a little bit

[4:13] process, but I think Katherine will be

[4:14] joining us as a council member here in

[4:16] the next few months. So, welcome to her.

[4:19] All right. So, uh, you all received a

[4:21] copy of the agenda and we need to

[4:22] approve that agenda. I am going to make

[4:24] one um proposed change. I've got to

[4:26] leave a little bit early and I want to

[4:27] talk about the um the proposed project

[4:31] funding before I go. And so, um, I

[4:34] propose that we move the update on the

[4:36] state water plan. So, Stephanie

[4:38] McGuinness's presentation to after the

[4:40] overview of fiscal year 26, uh,

[4:43] projects. So, I'm going to make that

[4:46] suggestion that we change uh the modify

[4:49] the amendment. And when when I leave,

[4:51] Leland has graciously volunteered to

[4:53] take over the gavvel. So, thanks for

[4:55] that, Leland. Volunteer volunttold, one

[4:58] of those things, right? Thanks, Leland.

[5:01] So, can we get a a motion to approve the

[5:03] agenda with that uh adjustment?

[5:07] >> Modified agenda.

[5:08] >> Okay, we have a motion from Leland. Get

[5:09] a second.

[5:10] >> Second.

[5:12] Commissioner, thank you. Uh all in

[5:14] favor, please say I.

[5:16] >> I. Any opposed? I'll rule that motion

[5:19] carries unanimously. And we are uh our

[5:22] agenda is approved. Also, we have

[5:23] minutes stated January 12th. Uh you

[5:26] should have received a copy of that. I

[5:27] haven't seen any suggested changes or um

[5:31] to the to those minutes those well

[5:33] they're really minute uh meeting notes.

[5:35] Can I get a motion to approve the

[5:37] meeting notes?

[5:39] Jeff. Thank you. Can I second?

[5:41] >> Second.

[5:41] >> Leland second. All in favor please say

[5:43] I.

[5:44] >> I. Any opposed? I will that motion

[5:47] carries unanimously. Okay. So it's uh

[5:50] been momentous time for Great Salt Lake.

[5:52] In the past week, we have not we h had

[5:55] not one but two presidential tweets on

[6:00] Great Salt Lake.

[6:02] So,

[6:04] the second one went out just yesterday.

[6:05] If you haven't seen it, managed to

[6:07] offend Canada, call a bunch of states to

[6:10] get together, but call out Great Salt

[6:11] Lake again. So, um appreciative for that

[6:14] attention uh to this critical issue.

[6:17] We're going to start out with an update

[6:18] from Hannah uh Freeze from the

[6:20] commissioner's office.

[6:22] We'll turn it over to Hannah. Thanks

[6:24] Hannah for being here.

[6:29] » Thank you. Is this good? You hear me? Um

[6:33] I don't have any slides to share with

[6:34] you today. I'm just going to talk um for

[6:36] a minute, but I appreciate that um tea

[6:38] up Tim about some of the things that I

[6:40] would like to highlight. Um as you know,

[6:42] we have Representative Kofford here, so

[6:44] I'm not going to touch on the

[6:45] legislation. I'm going to leave that to

[6:46] her. Um, but we had a great year in

[6:48] terms of le legislation for the lake and

[6:50] some new and exciting things happening

[6:52] that I think will make um, leasing an

[6:54] easier and better process uh, to be able

[6:56] to get water to the lake, which is

[6:58] obviously one of our biggest goals. Um,

[7:00] so we'll look forward to hearing from

[7:01] Representative Kofford there. Um, so I

[7:04] would just like to highlight for a

[7:06] minute um what Tim Hawk mentioned about

[7:09] uh the federal interest that has been

[7:11] swirling around Great Salt Lake over the

[7:13] past couple of weeks. Um and our efforts

[7:15] and our um collaboration with our

[7:18] federal partners to make the lake great

[7:20] again. Um so we did uh Governor Cox had

[7:23] a good conversation with President

[7:25] Trump. Um, and as part of that, I know

[7:27] there's been a lot of rumors swirling

[7:29] around about that conversation, but it

[7:31] is true that the state of Utah, um,

[7:33] through the commissioner's office and

[7:35] the DNR did request $1 billion, um, from

[7:39] in federal funding. So, I wanted to take

[7:41] a second and just highlight we don't

[7:43] have that broken out into specific

[7:45] dollar amounts of what's going to go

[7:46] where, but just highlight some of the

[7:48] projects and some of the opportunities

[7:51] um that are available that we would like

[7:52] to use those dollars if that comes to

[7:54] fruition uh for the state. Um so, one of

[7:57] the areas that we would like to focus on

[7:59] is um agricultural water leasing. That's

[8:03] been a topic. So, we would like to focus

[8:04] some dollars there. um ecosystem and

[8:07] habitat restoration and that focus would

[8:10] be specifically on the removal of um

[8:11] non-native invasive species. So think

[8:14] all of the fragmitees work that forestry

[8:16] fire and state lands and wildlife has

[8:17] been doing um if we can get some more

[8:20] dollars to continue those efforts. It's

[8:21] just such a massive need here on the

[8:23] lake as you all know. Um there is a line

[8:26] item in there or a a nod towards

[8:28] municipal water conservation. Um so

[8:31] continuing those efforts with our

[8:32] municipal partners um on our homeowners

[8:35] turf removal and leasing opportunities

[8:37] um from municipal partners as well. Um

[8:39] you also probably heard in the news that

[8:41] on the last day of the session um there

[8:43] was some legislation about the settling

[8:45] of the Bare River migratory bird refuge

[8:48] that has literally been 100 plus years

[8:51] in the making. uh the original lawsuit

[8:54] was filed in the 1920s.

[8:56] And so um part of those dollars would be

[8:59] earmarked to finish out that settlement.

[9:01] Basically what that is just in a

[9:02] nutshell is there's about 22,000 acres

[9:05] that the Bear River Migratory Bird

[9:07] Refuge already operates um as um federal

[9:12] lands that are actually state sovereign

[9:14] lands. And so we're looking at just

[9:16] making that switch so the federal

[9:17] government takes ownership and will

[9:19] purchase those lands from the state. Uh

[9:21] so that's in the works. Um another line

[9:24] item in the request um was to look at

[9:26] engineered options for the lake. Um and

[9:28] think if you heard in the strike team

[9:30] report um the information that we got

[9:33] from Utah State about water availability

[9:35] particularly in the Newf Finland basin.

[9:38] So if we can look at that with some of

[9:39] those federal dollars and what the

[9:41] possibility is to get some of that Newf

[9:42] Finland basin water flowing back into

[9:45] the Great Salt Lake and what that

[9:46] engineering would look like. Um and then

[9:48] the last line item in that um federal

[9:51] request was for habitat management

[9:53] specifically to protect migratory birds

[9:55] and potentially endangered species. Um

[9:58] and so just wanted you uh to hear it

[10:00] from us that there are no surprises in the funding that we requested and in

[10:04] that request that was made to our

[10:06] federal partners. Uh we definitely don't

[10:08] want to put the cart before the horse.

[10:09] We're not counting on this money. It's

[10:11] not guaranteed. Um but we did make that

[10:14] request to our federal partners and are

[10:15] looking forward to the opportunity. um

[10:17] to keep working with them. Can I answer

[10:20] any questions on that?

[10:22] >> So, questions from leaison and council

[10:24] members. Brad,

[10:27] >> thanks Hannah. Yeah, hopefully that

[10:28] moves in the right direction. Uh with,

[10:30] you know, with the Bear River being in

[10:32] the three states, the tri, you know,

[10:34] these tri-state areas, a lot of, like

[10:36] you said, a lot of that's federal. Do

[10:38] you envision that the Bureau of

[10:39] Reclamation may be a large partner in

[10:41] stepping up and handling that? Because

[10:43] there's going to be certain things that

[10:45] Wyoming wants that we don't need or

[10:49] want, but they're going to want to be a

[10:51] piece of the pie because of the Do you

[10:54] see any sort of that federal nexus or or

[10:57] you all are just requesting the federal

[10:59] dollars come straight to the state and

[11:00] you disperse them?

[11:02] >> That's a great question. Thank you. Um I

[11:04] think that there will be a federal

[11:05] nexus. I think um we're anticipating it

[11:08] would play out similar to the $50

[11:09] million that we were awarded that came

[11:11] through the Bureau of Reclamation. Um I

[11:14] don't know for sure, but that might also

[11:15] look like US Fish and Wildlife Bureau of

[11:18] Reclamation and some of those other

[11:19] federal partners that we would work with

[11:21] as well.

[11:22] >> Thank you.

[11:23] >> Uh any other questions from council

[11:24] members or liaison?

[11:27] Uh any burning question from the

[11:29] audience?

[11:32] Okay, seeing none. Thank you Hannah.

[11:34] Great update. exciting stuff. So, I

[11:36] really appreciate you being here.

[11:37] >> Appreciate it.

[11:38] >> So, the next um item on our agenda is a

[11:40] legislative update. Uh advocating for

[11:43] Great Salt Lake in the in the

[11:45] legislature is very much a coalition of

[11:47] the willing, a labor of love. Um I did

[11:49] it when I was there. Representative

[11:50] Ferry did it and then uh Representative

[11:52] Snider's had that laboring war for some

[11:54] time. And then uh this year really

[11:56] carrying a lot of the heavy lifting is

[11:59] Representative Jill Kofford who's with

[12:01] us and she's terrific and a true

[12:03] believer in the lake and has worked very hard um to try to get some

[12:06] legislation through and she's joined us

[12:08] here. We appreciate you being here Jill

[12:10] and we'll turn the time over to you. You

[12:11] can follow Hannah up there maybe and um

[12:14] we'd welcome just kind of an update what

[12:16] the what the session was like for Great

[12:18] Salt Lake.

[12:20] >> Thank you Tim. Um, thank you for letting

[12:23] me be here and taking a few minutes. I

[12:25] appreciate it. Um, really the focus this

[12:28] year for the lake was how can we deliver

[12:31] water to the lake? How can we remove

[12:33] some of those barriers and actually

[12:34] deliver water? And also I wanted it to

[12:37] be a really positive session for the

[12:39] lake rather than it's been a little

[12:41] tricky, right, and a little hostile. And

[12:44] I my whole goal was to bring people

[12:46] together and hopefully show that we can

[12:48] all move in the same direction and that

[12:51] look, we all want the same thing. We

[12:53] want to save this incredible body of

[12:54] water and how do we how do we create and

[12:58] maybe mend some bridges and make sure

[13:00] that we're all growing in the same

[13:01] direction. So my focus really came down

[13:03] to well three house bills that had to

[13:05] deal with water. Um the two specific to

[13:09] the lake were House Bill 348 which is

[13:12] was dedicated water amendments. And in

[13:14] working with Teresa the state water

[13:15] engineer, what we found is that the

[13:18] processes was really cumbersome um in

[13:20] getting change applications and in

[13:23] freeing up the process to actually move

[13:25] water to the lake. It was just taking

[13:26] too long. So working very closely with

[13:29] Teresa, we came up with a with a new

[13:31] application process called dedicated

[13:33] water. Um, it bumps the applications to

[13:36] the top of the line, makes them a

[13:38] priority, it protects the underlying water, right, and it just

[13:44] streamlines and speeds up the process to

[13:47] evaluate those applications. Teresa's

[13:49] office is looking at about 16,000

[13:52] applications a year. So you can imagine

[13:55] that if you're number 12,342

[13:58] just to pick a random number and you're

[14:01] buried somewhere in the bottom of the

[14:02] pile and you're trying to dedicate water

[14:04] to the lake that you're going to get

[14:05] lost in the shuffle. But if you can if

[14:06] you have a prioritized application that

[14:10] bumps you up to the front of the line,

[14:11] then that can help speed up that process

[14:13] and deliver the water to the lake. Um it

[14:17] was it was a policy that we worked

[14:19] really hard on and I think that we got

[14:21] it right. Um, so it allows for

[14:25] temporary, it's temporary, it can be

[14:27] time fixed, it can be different seasons,

[14:29] but it allows for a lot more flexibility

[14:32] in that application process. The second

[14:34] bill was the leasing bill. And

[14:36] initially, we started out just focused

[14:39] on Great Salt Lake and the Great Salt

[14:40] Lake Basin, but what we found is that would just muddy the waters a

[14:45] little bit in other basins. And so we

[14:47] wanted to create a statewide application

[14:50] process or a statewide leasing program.

[14:52] Sorry, not application process, a

[14:54] statewide program that could be applied

[14:56] to the Colorado River Basin as well as

[14:58] the Great Salt Lake Basin and also stand

[15:01] up a pilot program for leasing. So it's

[15:04] temporary, it's voluntary, it's market

[15:06] driven. It will be managed and run by

[15:09] the commissioner's office. Um it will

[15:11] create a new board that will evaluate

[15:13] those those leases

[15:16] um in an effort to kind of partner with

[15:18] agg and to make sure that they can look

[15:20] at their water maybe differently as a

[15:23] commodity that they put into a crop

[15:25] rotation. That was that was the the aim

[15:28] and the goal of 410. Um it's a two out

[15:31] of fiveear leasing pro um program so

[15:34] that we're not taking all the water out

[15:36] of a but that we're allowing farmers to

[15:39] look at it a little bit differently and

[15:41] they can they can evaluate what the what

[15:45] the season looks like upfront and make a

[15:47] decision really quickly whether or not

[15:49] they want to lease or if it looks like

[15:51] they want to grow and it's really left

[15:54] to the to our to our partners in a to

[15:56] determine what that looks like for them.

[15:58] Um, we've had some leasing opportunities

[16:01] before and the take the uptake just

[16:02] hasn't been there. So, working really

[16:04] closely with Hannah and with our a

[16:06] partners, they were at the table from

[16:08] the very beginning to to craft a program

[16:10] that works for them and also helps to

[16:14] kind of remove those barriers and get

[16:15] some water to the lake. The the third

[16:18] bill that I sponsored was a data center

[16:20] um

[16:22] just a transparency and reporting. We we

[16:25] want data centers in Utah. We need data

[16:27] centers in Utah. I think that we're in

[16:29] an arms race for AI really as a country.

[16:32] So, it's an industry that has largely

[16:35] pivoted away from being very water

[16:37] intensive, but we just don't know how

[16:39] much water they're using. And so, for

[16:42] me, this was an effort for them to be

[16:43] able to tell their story to show how

[16:45] they're good partners and good stewards

[16:46] of our water and to ensure that that's

[16:49] happening. So, it requires some

[16:51] pre-construction communication and

[16:54] reporting to the state water engineer

[16:56] and then it requires ongoing annual

[16:58] reporting. Um, and it's for new data

[17:00] centers coming into the state. I will

[17:02] say that was not where I wanted the bill

[17:04] to land, but that's where it needed to

[17:06] land so that we could get it across the

[17:07] finish line. So, it's anybody

[17:09] operational in the state from July 1st

[17:10] of this year and forward. And we'll monitor that and see if it's

[17:15] getting us the kind of information that

[17:16] we need. But in my opinion, we just need

[17:18] more data, more information. Um, on the

[17:22] last night of the session, there was

[17:24] another bill that was um it was House

[17:27] Bill 349, I believe it was Dave

[17:29] Shallenburgger's bill. He had worked

[17:31] really closely with um Teresa as well on

[17:33] that to have our municipalities

[17:36] plan get a 40-year plan for their water

[17:39] in place. it it was for those of you

[17:44] that have been in the legislative

[17:45] session, you know how crazy it gets

[17:46] towards the end and things can get

[17:48] stalled. So that bill ended up being

[17:51] swept into a land use bill that I was

[17:53] running so that we could get it over the

[17:54] finish line and it passed. So I'm I'm really looking forward to that. It

[17:59] was a big priority for Teresa and at

[18:01] this point anything Teresa asks for I'm

[18:03] willing to try to bend over backwards to

[18:05] make sure she gets. She's a remarkable

[18:07] person and a great partner. Um, I can't

[18:10] remember. Let's see. Ray Ward had a

[18:12] bill. Tim, do you remember the number?

[18:14] Um, it was about

[18:16] >> two 247 I think

[18:17] >> 247 maybe about royalties um from the

[18:21] brine shrimp. It that was going into the

[18:23] endangered species fund. Now that will

[18:26] go into the Great Salt Lake Fund to help

[18:28] with um all the work we're doing there.

[18:30] Um and I should mention that the the

[18:32] leasing program and the Great Salt Lake

[18:34] Preservation Fund that we created, we

[18:36] can take private dollars. So, so that

[18:39] fund I think is really unique. It's an

[18:41] ongoing fund that um gives us an

[18:44] opportunity to work with some of our our

[18:46] private partners who want to help get

[18:48] water to the lake. There's a vehicle now

[18:50] for that to happen. So, happy to answer

[18:52] any questions.

[18:54] >> Thanks, Representative here. Um

[18:56] questions from we'll start with

[18:58] committee members or liaison. Any

[19:00] questions for good representative? Great

[19:03] body of work um in this session.

[19:05] Definitely progress. Yeah.

[19:09] Go ahead.

[19:11] >> Hi, Representative. Um Brad Perry from

[19:13] the Northwestern Man of Shosonyi. A lot

[19:16] of really good things set in there. Um

[19:18] and you talk about data and how much

[19:21] you're going to get to the Great Salt

[19:23] Lake and some of the funding that you're

[19:24] looking at or some of the programs you

[19:26] want to implement from some of this

[19:29] legislation. Are you going to require

[19:31] monitoring of the water like water

[19:33] meters, water monitoring to ensure

[19:36] you're the lake is getting what it's

[19:38] getting?

[19:40] >> You mean like in terms of the dedicated

[19:42] water and the water leasing program

[19:43] itself?

[19:44] >> Yes.

[19:44] >> There there. Thank you for that

[19:46] question. There and that's that's been

[19:49] part of the challenge, right? Is is to

[19:51] make sure that the water is actually

[19:54] flowing where it's supposed to be

[19:55] flowing. And Teresa has the ability to

[19:57] monitor that with a state water engineer

[20:00] and and and has been given that

[20:03] authority in rule making to make sure

[20:05] that whatever has been dedicated is

[20:07] actually flowing to the lake that it's

[20:09] not being diverted downstream.

[20:11] >> Yeah. No. Yeah. And I totally

[20:13] understand. is um you know just coming

[20:16] from a reclamation background it's it's

[20:18] real easy to steal water if it ain't in

[20:19] a pipe or you know or if it's not

[20:22] metered you know and so I would just

[20:25] highly encourage that uh just as an

[20:27] example up on our site of 500 acres and

[20:30] so many CFS we've purchased Atlas which

[20:35] is what the USGS uses to monitor and we

[20:38] have seven monitoring stations and or we can have up to 25 so anyone in

[20:43] northern Utah along the river like West

[20:45] Cash we're a part of. We want to

[20:47] encourage to let us set up these data

[20:50] centers so we can have real time and

[20:52] send it to like you were saying yourself

[20:55] and Teresa and everybody because you

[20:58] know we're working really hard to make

[20:59] sure we have so much and we're so so far

[21:02] up north you know you know it's it's

[21:05] going to be a challenge as that water

[21:07] meanders its way down.

[21:09] >> Right. Do you know it's I spent a little

[21:11] bit of time with Teresa looking at the because I have a lot of questions

[21:15] and I'm new to the space trying to learn

[21:17] as much as I can um and asking those

[21:21] questions. Where are the gaps? What data

[21:23] do we have? What information don't we

[21:25] have? Where are the gaps? Who who do we

[21:27] need to be metering or all of those

[21:29] kinds of things. It's really fascinating

[21:31] when you get on the on the seed

[21:33] engineers water like on her site online

[21:36] and look at how granular she can get

[21:39] with the with the measurements and the

[21:41] water and the flow. It's we have really

[21:44] good information right now and that's

[21:47] really down to the work and the the

[21:49] groundwork that's already been laid.

[21:51] There may there may be a few places

[21:52] where we can tweak that, but that is

[21:55] really Teresa's mission and aim is to

[21:58] measure that and to know where the water

[21:59] is flowing. And it's it's incredible

[22:02] when just how granular we can get on on

[22:05] instream flows and and everything and

[22:07] where it's flowing.

[22:08] >> You guys use apples as well.

[22:10] >> Yeah, I I don't know what the system is.

[22:12] I just know on the website and and it's public facing. Anyone could go in

[22:17] and look at that, but it the the data is

[22:19] there and it's really good. Yeah, we

[22:20] just all have to start sharing it with

[22:21] each other. We all have to start a

[22:23] repository to make sure

[22:25] >> Yeah,

[22:26] >> it gets in there. That's what this group

[22:27] should be responsible

[22:28] >> and and meters like secondary meters,

[22:31] all of that. I mean, in terms of

[22:32] residential and municipal water, we're

[22:34] working towards that, too.

[22:36] >> They say if you can't measure it, you

[22:38] can't manage it, right? But I know

[22:40] that's a work in progress. I I think in

[22:42] terms of these instream flow or leasing

[22:45] type things for the lake, I think the

[22:47] state engineers office has always

[22:48] required metering as some portion of

[22:50] that. So that's usually part of the cost

[22:52] of doing that implementation. I think we

[22:54] got Leland and we got somebody else.

[22:55] Leland, why don't you go ahead?

[22:57] >> Uh yes. Um so

[23:01] we appreciate what the legislaturator's

[23:03] done in pushing secondary metering. I

[23:05] think that's really important. We've

[23:07] done a number of studies that uh

[23:10] indicate the significant amount of

[23:13] conservation that's going to be needed

[23:16] in order for population growth to live

[23:18] within the existing water supplies

[23:21] rather than to try and look at having to

[23:22] develop new water supplies so that

[23:24] anything can go to the lake that's

[23:27] getting there now as well as

[23:29] conservation adding to the lake

[23:31] particularly out of the agricultural

[23:33] area. Um I know that in the past uh

[23:36] there have been several bills trying to

[23:38] push conservation. We we are we we did a

[23:42] uh toolbox for municipalities

[23:45] to try and encourage them to to look at

[23:49] significant uh efforts on conservation

[23:52] at the municipal level. at the homeowner

[23:54] level, we don't have a great degree of

[23:58] reception on those toolbox uh getting

[24:01] people to look at it very well. The

[24:03] >> coalition of the reluctant, I think, is

[24:05] probably the way to put it.

[24:06] >> Is there and and and and it it appears

[24:09] that I know that at the legislative

[24:11] level, I'm getting to the question here

[24:12] soon.

[24:12] >> Yeah. at the at the legislative level. I

[24:14] know that there's been several bills ran

[24:16] by Representative Owens talking about

[24:18] some degree of of of I hate to use the

[24:22] term mandated, but encouraged strongly

[24:24] encouraged conservation. Do you think

[24:26] that's ever going to get legs enough to

[24:28] go anywhere? Because we we probably

[24:31] really need that.

[24:33] >> Yeah. Um,

[24:36] I will say that the I I was just looking

[24:39] at some of the bills that Representative

[24:41] Owens ran that that failed again this

[24:43] year. And I think the challenge is that

[24:46] many people in both bodies

[24:49] are reluctant to mandate

[24:52] so heavily on personal property rights.

[24:55] And that's the challenge that we're

[24:57] facing. And I would love to see that

[25:00] just happen naturally and voluntarily

[25:02] because we live in the second driest

[25:04] state in the nation. It makes sense that

[25:06] we're looking for new ways to conserve.

[25:09] So Stephanie Pitcher ran a bill and

[25:11] asked me if I would be her co-sponsor,

[25:13] her fuller sponsor on it. And it was ma

[25:16] is mandating new state facilities. So,

[25:20] not just just new buildings to be 75%

[25:23] water efficient and to look at different

[25:25] turf. And that to me was an easy yes

[25:29] because if we can't mandate ourselves as

[25:31] a state, how do we expect like if we

[25:34] can't step up and set the example, how

[25:35] do we expect the rest of the state to

[25:38] want to voluntarily step in? So, to me,

[25:41] that was an easy lift to say yes, we're

[25:43] going to mandate that on the state

[25:45] level. It was fascinating to me to

[25:47] listen to the push back that I got from

[25:49] some of my colleagues um and and some of

[25:52] the ribbing that I got that I took for

[25:54] that because people were saying, "Well,

[25:56] can't they already do this?" Well, yes,

[25:58] they can. But is it happening? I don't

[26:00] know. I can't tell you. But if I mandate

[26:02] it, I know that it's happening. And

[26:04] again, it comes back to me as a state

[26:06] legislator saying in our facilities that

[26:09] I control, I'm going to mandate this

[26:11] because we're going to set the example.

[26:13] So, I would I would love to see that. I know that we probably need to get to

[26:18] that, but I would love to see it become

[26:20] a voluntary thing where people just say,

[26:22] "We live in a desert and we're going to

[26:24] be we're going to be water-wise. We're

[26:26] going to be smart. We're going to save

[26:28] outside." And if every person along the

[26:29] Wasatch Front could conserve, to your

[26:31] point, 30%, how much more water would we

[26:33] get to that body of of water? A lot. So, I'm trying to win over hearts and

[26:39] minds to get people to do that

[26:41] voluntarily. I don't know that you'll

[26:43] see the legislature mandate that, but I think you'll see people

[26:47] continually asking us to mandate it. So,

[26:50] it's probably not the right answer, but

[26:52] it we're working on it. And and to me,

[26:55] we'll be more successful if we can win

[26:57] the hearts and minds of the people to

[26:58] say this lake matters. We care about it,

[27:02] and I can do something. And what I can

[27:04] do is pull out some turf or plant

[27:07] different turf and stop watering so

[27:09] much. So,

[27:11] >> I appreciate that. It would be nice for

[27:14] the municipalities to be willing to

[27:18] allow that to happen all the time, too,

[27:20] though.

[27:21] >> And that's part of the problem is agree.

[27:23] The municipalities, I mean, I live in

[27:25] Salt Lake City,

[27:27] >> and my neighbor across the street had a

[27:30] narrow park strip, took out all the

[27:32] grass. Salt Lake City came back in and

[27:34] she put cement in part of it. Salt Lake

[27:36] City came back in and said, "Take out

[27:38] the cement."

[27:40] And and that's the wrong direction

[27:43] when conservation somebody's willing to

[27:45] do it and then they're been told not to

[27:47] do it.

[27:47] >> Yeah, I agree.

[27:48] >> And so I know that for for some of the

[27:51] homeowner associations, there's been

[27:52] laws passed to try and allow people to

[27:55] be conser conservation-minded. I think

[27:58] we just need more encouragement.

[28:01] >> That's an editorial.

[28:02] >> Thanks. No, thanks Leland. Um

[28:05] representative, do you have time for two

[28:06] more questions?

[28:06] >> Absolutely. Okay, let's go Commissioner

[28:08] Coft and then we got Warren Peterson

[28:09] online.

[28:10] >> This is a this is a softball question.

[28:12] Well, it's not a question, it's a

[28:14] comment and a thank you. So, these data

[28:16] centers, especially the older ones, used

[28:18] enormous amounts of water and thank you

[28:21] for sponsoring that bill and at least

[28:25] working towards making that more

[28:27] transparent. And I know that there's

[28:29] improvements being made with the data

[28:31] centers. So, I think that that

[28:32] transparency is going to help everybody,

[28:34] >> including the data centers when they

[28:36] know that, you know, they're under

[28:38] public scrutiny on, you know, how much

[28:40] water they're using. So, I think that

[28:41] was a really good bill. I know that you

[28:43] had to make some compromises on it, but

[28:45] even with those compromises, it was such

[28:47] an improvement. Thank you for running

[28:49] that. Thank you for doing that. I I

[28:51] think that that'll have long reaching

[28:53] benefits throughout the uh well, with

[28:56] the Great Salt Lake, but with other

[28:58] issues as well. And being that we are

[29:00] the second driest state in the country,

[29:02] we should be aware of that. And so,

[29:04] thank you for running that. I I know

[29:05] that was

[29:06] >> a hard lift and you brought it home.

[29:09] Thank you.

[29:10] >> Who knew that was going to be so hard?

[29:13] Yeah, that and it almost died the last

[29:15] day of the session. So, um, one thing

[29:17] just to note, right now we have two big

[29:20] data centers that are using a lot of

[29:21] water in the state. It's Meta and the

[29:23] NSA. Meta is retrofitting a lot of their

[29:26] older um data centers to be more water

[29:29] efficient. And then the water that

[29:32] they're discharging, especially in Eagle

[29:33] Mountain, they're using to water the

[29:35] they're reusing the water to water some

[29:37] of their parks. So, they're not a

[29:40] terrible partner and they're moving in

[29:42] the right direction and I appreciate

[29:43] that. And they actually came to me and

[29:45] said this could be model policy. We like

[29:47] the way this is going. So, they want I

[29:50] think they want to be good partners.

[29:52] Yeah.

[29:53] >> Thank you. One more question. Warren

[29:55] Peterson online.

[29:57] >> Yeah, thank you Tim. Uh I just wanted to

[30:00] comment to to Jill that um

[30:05] now the session's over. So you're back

[30:07] to having your f your own first name

[30:08] instead of rep. Is that is that fair?

[30:12] But I I wanted to wanted to do a shout

[30:14] out to her to to Representative Kford

[30:17] because she didn't just go away and

[30:19] write bills. She worked hour, not just

[30:21] day by day, but hour by hour with water

[30:23] users to try to get it right. It's an a

[30:26] great example of how water legislation

[30:28] should be put together. And thank you,

[30:30] representative, for for the way for your

[30:32] approach and for the work you've done.

[30:34] So, I'm not even going to ask you a hard

[30:36] question. Just wanted to do that shout

[30:37] out to your example and your the

[30:40] exemplary way you went

[30:42] toward putting these bills together.

[30:45] >> Thank you, Warren.

[30:46] That means a great

[30:47] deal coming from you. I appreciate it.

[30:49] >> Well, thank you, Representative. We

[30:51] appreciate you being here. Thank you for

[30:52] that process. Uh you're really really

[30:54] great about um taking comment, working

[30:56] through a good process. So much much

[30:59] obliged. Thanks for all your great work

[31:00] and hope you're getting some time off to

[31:02] decompress just a teeny bit as you go

[31:04] right into a new campaign.

[31:06] >> Allegedly. Yeah. No, there's no no

[31:07] campaign. Yeah, there's a campaign.

[31:09] Yeah, I'm running for the Senate, so and

[31:11] I'll just throw that out there. I don't

[31:13] know. Anyway, here we go.

[31:15] >> Thanks, Joe.

[31:15] >> Thank you for all the work that you are

[31:17] doing. Thank you. I appreciate it.

[31:26] » Okay. Thank you very much. The next item

[31:28] on our agenda is um again, we're going

[31:30] to flip-flop a little. We're have

[31:32] Stephanie talk about the state water

[31:33] plan as the big substantive agenda item

[31:35] that we have left, but I wanted to talk.

[31:37] We've had a steering committee. Now, as

[31:40] this group will recall, so the the Great

[31:42] Salt Lake Advisory Council has the

[31:43] ability to to direct $125,000.

[31:48] It comes out of the Brian Shrimp um uh

[31:51] royalty and so it goes into Sovereign

[31:53] Lands Management Account and then it's

[31:55] this group has the ability to direct uh

[31:57] that funding. We've tried to make sure

[32:00] because in the past sometimes we haven't

[32:01] fully obligated it. we've had, you know,

[32:03] a study that just couldn't get done in

[32:05] time and so that money lapses

[32:07] effectively. Uh, and so we've really

[32:09] made an effort with the advisory council

[32:11] to frontload these these this project

[32:14] work upfront and make sure that we're

[32:16] funding the right stuff and we're doing

[32:18] it early um and so that we can maximize

[32:21] the value of those dollars. So there's

[32:23] been um a steering committee, a subset

[32:27] of um the membership and liaison that's met to talk about projects. We've

[32:33] allocated almost all of our funding. Uh

[32:36] and I'll ask Angela to correct me if I

[32:38] miss any of this, but there's about

[32:40] $30,000 left unallocated. And so the

[32:43] steering committee uh undertook to make

[32:46] recommendations about how to spend that

[32:49] last $30,000.

[32:52] And the recommendation um from that

[32:55] committee uh is to spend it in the

[32:57] following way. One is there is a a

[33:00] groundwater study being done by Utah

[33:03] State in conjunction with a couple of

[33:04] project partners. Do you remember who

[33:06] else is on there, Angela? This is

[33:09] studying groundwater uh recharge and all

[33:11] these different things on the east side

[33:13] of Great Salt Lake. Um so kind of in the interface there. Do you remember who

[33:19] else is a project partner there? I'm

[33:20] putting you on the spot. I think it

[33:22] might be Yeah.

[33:24] >> parters.

[33:25] >> Yeah. Oh, anyway, it's uh it it's it's

[33:29] not just USU. It's um I think there's

[33:32] some federal partners in there as well,

[33:33] but they're um they they're a little shy

[33:37] on their money. And so the

[33:38] recommendation was to take $10,000 of

[33:41] what's left and apply it to that study

[33:43] to help them uh wrap up that study. Um

[33:47] the other recommendation was $3,000

[33:50] to sponsor the issues forum

[33:54] take a bowin which friends of the great

[33:56] salt lake organizes every other year uh

[33:58] and and so a little sponsorship for that

[34:01] important convening of stakeholders and

[34:03] then with the amount that was left the

[34:05] recommendation was to give the the

[34:07] 17,000 that was remaining to the great

[34:09] Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust to

[34:11] do leasing but that's not the only you

[34:13] know could go to this new fund it could

[34:15] go somewhere else. But um the

[34:17] recommendation from the group was to go

[34:20] to the Great Salt Lake Wershed

[34:21] Enhancement Trust. So the question here

[34:24] and this this will be a committee vote.

[34:26] We need the committee members to vote to

[34:28] approve that and then that by statute

[34:30] then that that triggers basically that

[34:34] um that spend. Um but

[34:38] that's the recommendation from the

[34:39] working group. Any discussion to that or

[34:41] questions about that from the members of

[34:43] the committee or the liaison?

[34:47] And did I miss anything, Angela, or mess

[34:49] it up at all?

[34:51] >> No, that's right. I'll I'll just show

[34:52] the slide so that people can chew on

[34:55] this. And it also shows the other

[34:57] options that the steering committee um

[35:01] chose not to recommend.

[35:04] >> Can you see that? Okay.

[35:05] >> Yeah. So, um this was kind of a refined

[35:08] list of a much broader list of potential

[35:10] things. Of course, a lot of ways to

[35:11] spend money out there. Um but one is

[35:13] we've been commissioning these films to

[35:15] tell stories about the Great Salt Lake.

[35:16] And so one of the ideas was we could

[35:18] just fund a few more of those stories.

[35:20] Um that issues forum sponsorship that we

[35:22] just described the groundwater study

[35:24] that we just described. Um get donate to

[35:26] the trust or donate to the commission's

[35:28] office to to do uh you know leasing work

[35:31] or habitat work. Um redo the web page or

[35:34] come up with a dedicated page um for

[35:36] Great Salt Lake Advisory Council. Um,

[35:39] ultimately I think it was a little bit

[35:40] of a choose your own adventure, pick

[35:43] your menu. Um, and that's that was the

[35:45] recommendation from the group. So any

[35:47] questions about any of those or the

[35:48] recommendations from the working group?

[35:54] Leland,

[35:55] >> just understand that problems with

[35:58] procurement at times create at this

[36:01] point in time something we have to be

[36:02] able to do quickly and that's part of

[36:04] the dilemma

[36:06] >> with some of the issues some of the

[36:07] stuff we've had before.

[36:08] >> Yeah. In the past we've we've gotten the

[36:10] project started late and we can't even

[36:12] get through procurement issues to get

[36:15] the project awarded in time to spend the

[36:17] money. So that was part of the concerns

[36:19] on why those were picked because those

[36:22] we don't have to worry about it as much.

[36:27] » Thank you.

[36:28] >> Yes. Go ahead, please.

[36:30] >> Um, so I'm on the steering committee and

[36:33] I just wanted to give a little bit of

[36:34] background on the two that we did not

[36:37] choose. It isn't that we we're not we

[36:40] don't think they're important. There's a

[36:42] current fund uh towards preparing uh

[36:45] videos of success stories around the

[36:47] lake. Um but we haven't seen the results

[36:51] of that yet. So that's something that we

[36:53] if we like what we get, we can uh

[36:55] perhaps fund some more next year. And

[36:58] then that same thing goes for the

[37:00] dedicated web page. Um we all realize

[37:03] that's very very important, but in light

[37:04] of procurement and um making sure that

[37:07] it's a really well done thing, we we

[37:10] know it's important. And so this is

[37:11] something that we'll be looking forward

[37:13] to uh next year.

[37:16] >> Okay. Thank you for that additional

[37:17] context. Any other comments or questions

[37:20] about the recommendations from the

[37:22] steering committee?

[37:25] >> If not, can I get a motion from a

[37:27] council member to approve or modify?

[37:29] Leland. Leland moves to approve.

[37:32] >> Second.

[37:33] >> A second from commissioner. We have it.

[37:35] >> Thanks.

[37:36] >> Uh all in favor, please say I. Or raise

[37:39] I. Any opposed? I'll rule that motion

[37:42] carries unanimously. Thanks for your

[37:45] time and discussion on that. Again, we

[37:47] hope to continue the good work to make

[37:49] sure to help in a small way. We're not

[37:51] talking big funding here, right? But the

[37:52] over time, Great Salt Lake Advisory

[37:54] Council's done a lot of great work with

[37:56] fairly modest funding. So, proud of that

[37:58] work. Okay. So, uh, next is we are going

[38:02] to turn it over to for an update on the

[38:05] state water plan to Stephanie McGinness

[38:07] from water resources who's here with us.

[38:09] And Stephanie, welcome. Thanks for being

[38:11] here. And we'll turn the time over to

[38:13] you. You do have a presentation right. I

[38:15] think it's queued up.

[38:19] » Yeah. Good morning. Thank you. Give me

[38:21] one moment and I'll get my slides up.

[38:30] As Stephanie's getting situated, I'm I

[38:33] forgot our official signin, so I'm

[38:34] passing around my notebook with all my

[38:36] stickers. So, if it takes you back to

[38:38] sixth grade environmental science club,

[38:40] that is the feeling I want you to have.

[38:42] So, that's the sign in for today.

[38:51] » Well, good morning. Thank you again for

[38:52] that introduction. My name is Steph

[38:54] McInness. I'm the state water plan

[38:56] manager with the Division of Water

[38:57] Resources. And what I'd like to do with

[39:00] our time this morning is just give you

[39:02] uh a brief overview on the state water

[39:04] plan update that we're working on.

[39:08] So, I'd like to start out by just

[39:10] getting everyone on the same page of

[39:12] what the state water plan is meant to

[39:14] accomplish. Um I'm going to give you the the cliff notes here. The key

[39:19] components are all lined out uh in code.

[39:21] So, if you'd like to dig in, uh there's

[39:23] the code. you can help yourself to a

[39:25] couple pages of reading. Uh but

[39:28] ultimately the state water plan, it's

[39:30] meant to serve as a framework to support

[39:32] informed decision making um by those

[39:35] that are shaping, managing, and

[39:36] depending upon Utah's water resources.

[39:39] The plan will identify current and

[39:41] future water resources. It will also

[39:44] recommend strategies um and actionable

[39:46] steps. And we're trying to do this at

[39:48] the individual, local, and state level.

[39:50] Um to address current challenges and

[39:52] also to prepare us for future

[39:54] uncertainties.

[39:55] Uh this this plan is is meant to be

[39:58] informed by a wide range of

[40:00] stakeholders. And our team has really

[40:02] made a significant effort uh to get out

[40:04] there at the local level um to get um

[40:06] you know thoughts and priorities and

[40:09] concerns to help inform this plan um so

[40:12] that we can hopefully help decision

[40:13] makers identify priorities and

[40:15] challenges and plan more efficiently.

[40:18] uh sort of the the goals or the outcomes

[40:20] that are lined out in statute uh calls

[40:23] for the plan to support our communities,

[40:24] our businesses, our agriculture, our

[40:27] recreation, and also to keep our

[40:29] environment healthy. And these are what

[40:31] really shaped the the focus areas of our

[40:34] plan. So, we have an entire chapter

[40:36] that's dedicated to healthy wersheds and

[40:38] ecosystems, one to vibrant communities

[40:40] and one to productive agriculture.

[40:47] And I just want to touch on two things

[40:49] briefly that change how the state water

[40:50] plan is developed as a result of House

[40:53] Bill 280 passing in the 2024 legislative

[40:56] session. Uh first off, the code now

[40:58] calls for a timeline on how often the

[41:01] plan is to be updated. In 1990, that's

[41:04] when we had the first truly

[41:05] comprehensive state water pan plan

[41:07] published, and it's been updated twice

[41:09] since then. Uh but now code calls for

[41:12] the plan to be updated no less

[41:14] frequently than every 10 years. And the

[41:17] division of water resources, we do have

[41:18] an internal goal to be updating the plan

[41:21] uh more like every 5 years. And I think

[41:23] that's really important that we're

[41:25] updating this on a regular basis. You

[41:27] know, um our as our challenges and our

[41:29] needs change, our focus changes, and

[41:31] there's certainly a lot in motion right

[41:34] now as it relates to Great Salt Lake.

[41:36] So, we want statewide planning to keep

[41:37] up with that.

[41:40] Collaboration is also something that was

[41:42] addressed in that 2024 legislation. So,

[41:44] the statute now identifies several state

[41:47] and local entities that are necessary

[41:49] contributors to the plan. Um, excuse me,

[41:53] at the state level, these are

[41:57] the entities that are called out. Uh

[41:58] it's worth noting that there are several

[42:00] divisions within the Department of

[42:02] Natural Resources as well as the

[42:04] Department of Environmental Quality that

[42:06] are our contributing partners. Uh and

[42:08] we're working with others even if they

[42:10] aren't listed in statute. For example,

[42:12] we're working with the Office of Energy

[42:14] and Development. Uh they're an important

[42:16] collaborator because as the the need to

[42:18] increase our energy uh production in the

[42:21] near future, I mean that will affect how

[42:23] we manage our water resources

[42:26] at the local level. the water

[42:28] conservancy districts and the watershed

[42:30] councils are specifically mentioned. Um,

[42:32] again, we're we're trying to connect

[42:34] with more than what's called out there.

[42:35] Uh, we're really working with the

[42:37] public, which is called out in code. Uh,

[42:39] we've done outreach with Utah tribal

[42:41] leaders. I think the point here is we're

[42:43] really trying to get that diverse uh,

[42:45] input to inform the plan

[42:49] and the plan vision that's guiding this

[42:51] work. It's it's intentionally simple,

[42:53] but the reality is this isn't

[42:54] simplistic. But I think what's important

[42:56] here with this vision is uh is the

[42:59] balance. It's not asking us to choose

[43:01] between the economy uh our communities

[43:03] or the environment.

[43:06] And these are the four goals that we've

[43:08] lined out that the plan must accomplish

[43:10] to uh move us toward that vision. And I

[43:12] want to discuss each one just briefly in

[43:14] a bit more detail

[43:16] to ensure long-term water security. We

[43:18] want to make sure that we aren't

[43:19] planning for just one future. Certainly,

[43:21] there's a variety of futures that could

[43:23] be ahead for the state and we want to

[43:26] make sure that we're embracing

[43:27] innovation and being proactive with

[43:29] water planning

[43:35] and our state is growing. Ultimately, we

[43:38] need to plan for for growth in a way

[43:41] that aligns with our available water

[43:43] resources.

[43:46] And as we grow, we we really want to

[43:49] find innovative ways to better

[43:50] coordinate and share data. There's so

[43:52] much great work that's going on all over

[43:54] the state. Uh and so how can we better

[43:56] share data and collaborate so that we

[43:59] can share stewardship of our water

[44:00] resources.

[44:03] Uh with a background as an aquatic

[44:05] ecologist, I'm really excited about this

[44:07] goal. I I really feel like this plan

[44:09] update expands and and puts more of a

[44:11] focus on protecting our environment than

[44:13] we've seen in our previous plans.

[44:16] And before we dig into the update uh

[44:18] that we're currently working on, I just

[44:20] want to take a couple of minutes to just

[44:21] step back and take a look at water

[44:23] planning um and how it's evolved over

[44:25] the years. Water planning today

[44:27] certainly looks a whole lot different

[44:28] than it did 75 years ago. And that's

[44:31] really a reflection of the priorities

[44:33] and the realities of the time in which

[44:34] they were written. Uh over time, each

[44:37] plan is responding to new pressures and

[44:39] new information and a changing state.

[44:41] And certainly the water landscape that

[44:43] we live in, it isn't static. our

[44:45] challenges and our needs are always

[44:46] changing and the update that we're

[44:48] working on today that's simply just the

[44:50] next chapter in this evolution. Uh so

[44:52] again as I mentioned the the first truly

[44:55] comprehensive state water plan that was

[44:57] published in 1990 but planning goes back

[44:59] much further than that. So the first

[45:02] water planning document this is uh

[45:04] really the the area of of planning

[45:07] that's deeply tied to engineering. The

[45:09] plan was focused on capturing and

[45:11] storing water and moving it to where it

[45:13] could support uh growth and development.

[45:16] So this center on infrastructure that

[45:19] really made sense for the time Utah was

[45:21] growing and water uh planning it was it

[45:23] was really about creating certainty uh

[45:26] through storage and conveyance and much

[45:27] of the water system that Utah relies on

[45:29] today was built on this vision.

[45:33] Now by the 1963 planning document uh we

[45:36] see a bit of a subtle shift. planning is

[45:38] still very infrastructure focused but

[45:40] the lens has widened a bit. Uh the

[45:42] challenge it wasn't just to capture the

[45:44] water but to manage it well and this was

[45:46] the beginning of an idea I think that

[45:48] really still shapes our work today.

[45:50] Water security depends on how well our

[45:52] systems function uh not just on how much

[45:54] water nature provides.

[45:57] Okay. So by the time we reach that first

[45:59] state water plan uh we start to see the

[46:02] scope of water planning expand

[46:03] significantly. Communities were

[46:05] expanding, water uses were diversifying,

[46:08] and the impacts of water decisions are becoming more visible. Uh, in this

[46:12] plan, we see entire sections that are

[46:14] devoted to water pollution control, to

[46:17] the importance of fisheries and other

[46:18] aquatic wildlife. And this plan

[46:21] acknowledges water conservation as a

[46:23] necessary tool to manage our water

[46:25] resources. And so this reflects a

[46:27] growing understanding that water

[46:28] planning, it isn't just about delivering

[46:30] water to users, but about protecting

[46:32] water quality, supporting ecosystems,

[46:34] and using water more wisely.

[46:37] By the early 2000s, the conversation

[46:40] becomes a bit more explicit about

[46:42] something Utah's always lived with, but

[46:44] hasn't always necessarily planned

[46:45] around. So, the plan acknowledges that

[46:47] water's been made so readily available

[46:49] that its scarcity in a semi-arid climate

[46:52] can be easy to overlook. And I think it

[46:54] makes an important point here that

[46:56] reality it needs to be fully recognized

[46:58] if we're going to make appropriate

[47:00] decisions for a growing population. And

[47:03] what's interesting here too is this is a

[47:05] shift from assuming availability to

[47:07] acknowledging limits. So planning is

[47:09] starting to focus on not just meeting

[47:11] demand but on understanding the

[47:12] conditions that we're planning within.

[47:14] And I think that mindset's pretty

[47:16] foundational to how we think about water

[47:18] planning today.

[47:20] Now, by the most recent plan, we see yet

[47:22] another shift. Water planning. It's

[47:24] explicitly tied to climate science to

[47:26] changing long-term trends and more

[47:28] frequent ex extremes. This plan, it also

[47:31] emphasizes the role of science and data

[47:33] and continued collaboration in preparing

[47:36] for the future. And we're certainly

[47:38] still in that era right now. Um so

[47:40] really uh we're we're looking at

[47:42] planning as building resilience in the

[47:44] face of uncertainty and guiding

[47:46] decisions uh that hold up under a wide

[47:49] range of conditions.

[47:51] Now one of the clearest signals that's

[47:54] shaping this update is drought and not

[47:56] just a single event but a pattern. We're

[47:58] seeing more frequent and severe drought

[48:00] across the state. Uh this water new year

[48:02] we are off to a really great start. Uh

[48:05] there were areas in the state that were

[48:06] setting records for the wetest October

[48:08] ever recorded. Uh and that was great.

[48:11] It, you know, saturated our soils. It

[48:13] was priming our wersheds for a more

[48:14] efficient runoff this spring. And then

[48:16] we hit a snow drought. Um and this is a

[48:19] screenshot from December. And I actually

[48:21] looked yesterday and uh this this uh

[48:25] image of the state droughtwise, it

[48:27] hasn't really changed a whole lot. So, a

[48:29] lot of our state is headed into spring

[48:32] and in and some level of drought. And I

[48:34] think it's also important to note uh

[48:36] this December screenshot. Um NDIS, they

[48:39] also noted that this was the lowest snow

[48:41] coverage that they'd recorded since uh

[48:43] the program started back in 2001. So,

[48:46] you know, drought, it's not just a

[48:48] hydraologic condition. It's shaping

[48:49] decisions about growth, about

[48:51] agriculture, about ag uh infrastructure.

[48:53] And so, this is really becoming a shared

[48:56] question. How do we prepare for a future

[48:58] that may not look like the past?

[49:01] And another clear signal of changing

[49:03] times is the declining levels of Great

[49:04] Salt Lake. I know that is not news to

[49:06] anyone in this room, but for the basins

[49:09] that drain to the lake, this highlights

[49:11] really how local water decisions are

[49:13] connected to statewide outcomes. What

[49:15] happens upstream, it matters downstream.

[49:17] And as you all are already fully aware,

[49:20] the lake reminds us that water planning

[49:21] can't happen in isolation.

[49:24] Now, Lake Pal is telling a different

[49:26] part of the story. This is a picture of

[49:28] PAL back in 2021. And at this time, this

[49:30] was a new historic low since it started

[49:32] filling back in the 60s. And then we hit

[49:35] another record low the next summer and

[49:37] then again the next summer. And there's

[49:39] current concerns right now about hitting

[49:41] Deadpool. And you know, Lake Pal's part

[49:43] of a system that's designed to give us a

[49:45] buffer, some protection against those

[49:47] dry years. And when that buffer shrinks,

[49:49] uncertainty grows. And so this reality,

[49:52] it really reinforces the need for

[49:54] careful planning, for coordination

[49:56] across jurisdictions, and I think a

[49:58] willingness to adapt as conditions

[50:00] change. I I don't think we can stress

[50:02] enough how important it is that we pay

[50:04] attention to what's changing around us.

[50:08] Now, when we talk about these uh

[50:10] indicators of a changing water

[50:12] landscape, uh it can really bum people

[50:14] out. Um you all are aware of that just

[50:16] with your work with Great Salt Lake and

[50:18] with the state water plan. We do not

[50:20] want to send the message that there's

[50:21] nothing that we can do about this. The

[50:23] message that we want to send is that

[50:26] planning for the future is going to

[50:27] require us to start thinking differently

[50:29] about risk, resilience, and

[50:31] responsibility. So, with that, I want to

[50:34] just get into give you um kind of a high

[50:36] level overview of how the state water

[50:38] plan is laid out, how we're trying to

[50:40] address these challenges, and I also

[50:42] want to share some specifics as they

[50:44] relate to Great Salt Lake and the basins

[50:45] that drain to the lake. So the plan will

[50:48] have a total of nine chapters. Today I

[50:51] want to drill down into chapters 2 38 2

[50:53] through8. This is really the meat of the

[50:55] plan. And I also want to address how uh

[50:57] these chapters address the lake. The

[50:59] lake is not siloed into just one

[51:01] chapter.

[51:04] So chapters 2, three, and four. I really

[51:06] see these as the chapters that outline

[51:08] what sort of the limiting or

[51:09] constraining factors are when it comes

[51:11] to how much water we have in our state

[51:13] and what we can do with that water.

[51:16] And then within those constraints, how

[51:18] do we support our ecosystems, our

[51:20] community, and our agriculture?

[51:22] Chapter 8, this will discuss the unique

[51:25] challenges and needs across the 11

[51:27] basins within Utah. Uh we'll also share

[51:29] a success story. Uh we really want to

[51:31] highlight some aspect of all of the

[51:33] great work that's going on in the basins

[51:35] to help solve water challenges.

[51:38] So diving into each of these chapters in

[51:40] a bit more detail. Chapter two will

[51:42] describe the current conditions uh and

[51:44] it really establishes the baseline for planning and decision making. This

[51:49] chapter will explain how supply and use

[51:51] are measured as well as provide a

[51:52] current uh water budget that details our

[51:54] current supply and current use. Our team

[51:56] just recently finished the water budget

[51:58] model run through 2024. Um and this

[52:00] figure up on the screen is is showing uh

[52:03] that information. It's showing

[52:04] diversions, depletions, and return flows

[52:07] by major basins and sectors. So, we'll

[52:09] be highlighting this uh sort of

[52:11] information in the plan. And we can

[52:12] break this down by basin. So, I've asked

[52:14] our team to just cut out uh or pull out

[52:16] what uh is relevant for the basins

[52:19] draining to the lake. And there's a

[52:21] whole lot going on here. So, let me just

[52:23] walk you through this. Um on the left,

[52:25] the green and the purple, uh this is the

[52:28] diversion volume in thousand acre feet.

[52:30] And this is a 5-year average volume of

[52:33] diversions from 2020 through 2024. Uh

[52:36] you can see that the diversions are

[52:37] broken out by surface water the green

[52:39] and then the purple the groundwater um

[52:42] and then those colors are further broken

[52:44] out by the main sectors. So municipal,

[52:46] industrial and agricultural diversions.

[52:49] Now on the right we're showing you

[52:50] whether the trends uh for use or excuse

[52:52] me for diversions are increasing,

[52:55] decreasing or staying the same. And this

[52:58] trend analysis was years 1989 through

[53:00] 2024. Uh for the Great Salt Lake basins

[53:03] combined up on top uh you can see that

[53:06] gray color which indicates that um we we

[53:10] really aren't seeing a change over the

[53:11] years uh from the diversions uh which is

[53:14] kind of interesting. Now if you look

[53:16] down on the bottom here we we have it

[53:18] broken out by basin. Um, and so you can

[53:21] see on the far right here where it says

[53:24] ground, um, it shows whether groundwater

[53:27] diversions are increasing or decreasing.

[53:29] So you can see there's a slight increase

[53:31] in groundwater diversions for the Bear

[53:33] River, Utah Lake, and West Desert

[53:35] Basins. Uh whereas for Weber River and

[53:38] for the Jordan River, we're seeing um a

[53:40] slight uh decrease uh for surface water.

[53:43] uh that middle column you can see that

[53:47] the uh surface water diversions in the

[53:50] Weber River and then also in the UT Utah lake uh basin that those are

[53:54] actually decreasing a little bit.

[53:58] Moving on to chapter three. This will

[54:00] address the risks and unknowns that

[54:01] affect water planning uh climate and

[54:03] population. Those are certainly two

[54:05] drivers that create uncertainty. So our

[54:07] team will model how these two factors

[54:09] can affect supply and demand in the

[54:10] future. And chapter three, it really

[54:13] frames uncertainty as a planning

[54:14] condition, uh, reinforcing why the lake

[54:17] is vulnerable without collaboration and

[54:19] coordinated management.

[54:21] Chapter four, this will cover how water

[54:23] is governed and managed in Utah and how

[54:25] it creates some predictability for water

[54:28] users. So, we'll cover who does what at

[54:30] the state, regional, and local levels.

[54:32] Uh, this includes state agencies like

[54:34] the Division of Water Resources all the

[54:36] way down to the local irrigation

[54:38] companies. each has a really important

[54:41] role in planning or developing or

[54:43] regulating or delivering water. We'll

[54:45] highlight all of the key laws and

[54:46] agreements that shape water use in Utah.

[54:49] We'll also talk about water rights and

[54:50] allocation which includes federally

[54:52] reserved water rights um and includes

[54:54] tribal rights. And we'll touch on

[54:56] innovations in how we manage and plan

[54:58] for water uh such as the unified water

[55:00] infrastructure plan or the UWIP that

[55:02] aims to improve coordination and funding

[55:04] for water infrastructure projects across

[55:06] the state.

[55:09] for the Great Salt Lake Basin. You know,

[55:12] there's there's constraints with the

[55:13] existing law, but you know, we're really

[55:15] saying that we're seeing that there's a

[55:17] lot of opportunities as well. In the

[55:18] last few years and even in this last

[55:20] legislative session, you know, we're

[55:22] seeing that there's a lot of action um

[55:24] that's being taken to to help with lake

[55:26] levels. So, if we can keep drilling down

[55:28] on how these decisions affect the lake,

[55:30] I think we can also get where there's

[55:32] more flexibility or room for change in

[55:34] how we we manage and govern. Um, you

[55:37] know, one thing I didn't mention at the

[55:38] beginning is at the end of each chapter,

[55:40] we'll provide recommendations on how we

[55:42] can move uh toward those goals and that

[55:44] vision. Um, and so one of the things

[55:47] that we'll be asking of of the council

[55:48] members is to help inform some of those

[55:50] recommendations that will help protect

[55:52] the lake.

[55:54] So, moving into chapter five, we're

[55:56] moving out of those constraint chapters

[55:57] and we're moving into kind of those

[55:59] three focus areas. So the state water

[56:01] plan will emphasize the importance of

[56:03] investing in our natural systems. You

[56:06] know, healthy wheds and ecosystems,

[56:08] they're one of the most effective and

[56:09] unfortunately one of the most overlooked

[56:11] ways to really build resilience um for our water future. Intact wersheds,

[56:17] they provide a multitude of services uh

[56:19] such as providing habitat for wildlife,

[56:21] improving water quality, um also

[56:24] reducing the severity of flooding and

[56:26] supporting more reliable base flows uh

[56:28] in those late summer months.

[56:32] The plan will also address the major

[56:33] threats our wersheds face. Pollution,

[56:35] invasive species, and wildfire are

[56:38] certainly major ones that we're focused

[56:39] on as it relates to water quality and

[56:42] quantity and ecosystem health because

[56:44] these threats can really affect those

[56:45] multitude of services that they provide.

[56:49] And protecting our wersheds is also

[56:51] important because they're a really great

[56:53] place to play. Um and this in turn is a

[56:55] major economic uh benefit to many of our

[56:57] communities.

[56:59] In this chapter, we'll specifically

[57:01] highlight the echo ecological importance

[57:03] of the lake. Um and we'll we'll

[57:06] highlight the management plans that are

[57:07] already in place to protect the lake as

[57:09] well as provide recommendations to

[57:11] bolster and expand those programs. Um

[57:14] and you know the lake it supports

[57:15] recreation, it supports tourism and that

[57:18] sort of bleeds us over into our next

[57:19] chapter on vibrant communities. Uh but

[57:22] before I move on, I do want to say that

[57:23] we intentionally structured these

[57:25] chapters this way so that healthy

[57:27] watersheds and ecosystems is first

[57:29] because without those being healthy,

[57:32] it's really hard to fully support our

[57:34] communities and our agriculture.

[57:37] So long-term planning will be key to uh

[57:39] ensure our water resources are are ready

[57:41] to support areas with a growing

[57:43] population, ensure that our economic

[57:45] opportunities are set up for success as

[57:47] we see an increase in energy

[57:49] development, especially geothermal and

[57:51] other alternative energy sources, and

[57:53] that we have a strategy in place to

[57:55] seize future opportunities such as

[57:57] hosting the upcoming 2034 Olympics.

[57:59] Ultimately, we need to plan for growth,

[58:02] including the need to grow our energy

[58:03] supply in ways that align with our

[58:05] available water resources.

[58:08] And we want to continue to assess how we

[58:10] can better manage demand by growing

[58:12] water wise through the the use of smart

[58:14] water technology such as smart

[58:15] irrigation timers. We'll be highlighting

[58:18] all of the rebate programs and

[58:19] incentives and educational workshops

[58:21] that are available to Utons to help make

[58:23] water- wise decisions. And uh the plan

[58:26] will continue to stress the importance

[58:28] of secondary water water metering a as

[58:31] well as you know how we can continue to

[58:33] use tiered water rates uh to reward

[58:35] conservation efforts.

[58:38] And just as we're looking at how we can

[58:40] better manage demand, we'll also look at

[58:42] how we can expand and optimize our

[58:44] supply through planning for repair and

[58:46] replacement of aging infrastructure,

[58:47] through the development of new

[58:48] infrastructure, um, and and implementing

[58:51] projects and and this is statewide, but

[58:53] uh, implementing projects like water

[58:55] reuse, aquafer storage and recovery, and

[58:57] water loss control that can help us to

[58:59] expand um, and and protect our our water

[59:02] supplies.

[59:04] And I've already touched on this a bit,

[59:06] but we want to highlight the economic

[59:08] importance of the lake. There's direct

[59:10] connections such as the importance of

[59:11] wildlife viewing, uh, bird hunting to

[59:14] indirect connections such as the lake

[59:16] effect snow that helps support our ski

[59:18] resorts along the Wasatch Front.

[59:20] And now moving on to this last focus

[59:22] area, supporting our agricultural

[59:24] community is going to be key to a

[59:26] resilient water future. agriculture.

[59:29] It's really the cornerstone of our

[59:31] economy and our our identity. And so the

[59:33] state water plan is supporting farmers

[59:35] and ranchers by identifying and

[59:37] highlighting the importance of uh grant

[59:40] programs and other financial

[59:41] opportunities that are available to them

[59:43] uh to help producers improve their

[59:45] operations as well as identifying ways

[59:47] to use water more efficiently all the

[59:49] while preserving agricultural lands and

[59:51] traditions. So the plan will outline

[59:53] opportunities that are available through

[59:55] uh these programs. We'll also be digging

[59:58] into best management practices with a

[1:00:00] focus on sort of two core areas.

[1:00:02] Off-farm and onfarm. So off farm we'll

[1:00:05] be looking at the improvement of the

[1:00:06] conveyance system and the measurement

[1:00:09] and control of water throughout the

[1:00:10] system. And then on farm we'll be

[1:00:12] looking at best management practices

[1:00:14] that optimize agricultural water use. U

[1:00:16] those are usually focused on system

[1:00:18] infrastructure as well as the management

[1:00:20] of crops, soil and uh irrigation water

[1:00:23] application.

[1:00:25] And I think it's going to be important

[1:00:26] to discuss how agriculture can be part

[1:00:28] of the solution as we plan for the

[1:00:30] lakes's uh water future. It's certainly

[1:00:32] not separate from it. Uh the plan points

[1:00:35] out the importance of the brine shrimp

[1:00:36] industry to aquaculture across the

[1:00:38] globe. Um so again the lake is not

[1:00:41] siloed into just one chapter. Um it's

[1:00:43] touched on across the plan.

[1:00:47] Now the final chapter that I would like

[1:00:48] to discuss is the um the basin

[1:00:51] perspective chapter where we highlight

[1:00:52] challenges and needs and a success. And

[1:00:55] what's shaping this chapter is our

[1:00:57] conversation with the wershed councils.

[1:00:59] Uh it's also informed by what we heard

[1:01:01] at our our public meetings that we held

[1:01:03] this last springer uh summer and into

[1:01:05] fall. Um and you know the council we

[1:01:08] asked them to identify challenges and

[1:01:10] needs within the basin and those were

[1:01:12] pretty much echoed by the participants

[1:01:14] that joined our public meetings. So I

[1:01:16] want to share just a real highlevel um

[1:01:18] overview of some of the key takeaways

[1:01:20] from that.

[1:01:22] So several shared challenges

[1:01:24] consistently surfaced across the basins

[1:01:26] that are connected to Great Salt Lake

[1:01:28] basins are experiencing growing demand

[1:01:30] and as as communities expand and at the

[1:01:33] same time people are concerned about

[1:01:35] variable and limited water supplies as

[1:01:37] we head into the future uh they're

[1:01:39] concerned about how drought is going to

[1:01:41] stress surface and groundwater systems.

[1:01:44] There's also infrastructure challenges,

[1:01:46] systems that need maintenance and

[1:01:47] upgrades, uh, new approaches to address

[1:01:49] new and evolving needs. And layered over

[1:01:52] all of this is the need to balance um,

[1:01:54] you know, municipal, agriculture,

[1:01:56] recreation, environmental needs. And

[1:01:58] these challenges are real. They're showing up in daily decisions

[1:02:01] and budget conversations. So, they

[1:02:03] really are shaping how we plan together.

[1:02:07] So, just to wrap up, I'd like to share

[1:02:09] our council members can help shape the

[1:02:11] plan as well as how others can engage.

[1:02:13] For council members, we want to invite

[1:02:15] you to review and provide feedback on a

[1:02:17] draft that will be available in May. Uh

[1:02:19] right now, we're we're aiming for early

[1:02:21] May, so I'm hoping that we can stick

[1:02:23] with that. Uh we'd also like to hear any

[1:02:25] recommendations that you all may have uh

[1:02:27] to help support efforts to protect the

[1:02:29] lake.

[1:02:31] Uh for everyone else that's joining us,

[1:02:33] uh we'd also love to have you be part of

[1:02:34] the process as well. There's still uh an

[1:02:37] opportunity to engage in the plan before

[1:02:39] the final is available in December. Uh

[1:02:42] so this summer we're aiming for early

[1:02:44] July. We'll put the plan out for public

[1:02:46] comment. At this point, we'll be putting

[1:02:47] out what we consider to be a final draft

[1:02:49] and we'll see if uh the public agrees

[1:02:51] that it is indeed the final draft. Uh if

[1:02:54] you would like to be notified of that

[1:02:55] public comment period or when the final

[1:02:57] draft is available in December, uh

[1:02:59] please do sign up for email updates. The

[1:03:02] QR code, it actually will take you to

[1:03:04] the state water plan web page. Uh you

[1:03:06] need to scroll down just a little bit,

[1:03:07] but you'll see the button to sign up for

[1:03:09] email updates.

[1:03:12] And with that, I'd be happy to answer

[1:03:14] any questions. Uh I'd also love to hear

[1:03:16] any recommendations that you all might

[1:03:17] have of what you would like to see

[1:03:19] included in the plan.

[1:03:22] Thank you. Any comments or questions

[1:03:25] from the council first?

[1:03:28] >> Tom's put his finger on button so he's

[1:03:30] going to talk.

[1:03:31] >> Okay.

[1:03:31] >> Thank you, Stephanie. Um maybe bringing

[1:03:34] together what uh Representative Kofford

[1:03:36] mentioned, our challenge of getting

[1:03:38] municipalities to conserve at a level

[1:03:41] that that would

[1:03:44] guide us towards success at least in the

[1:03:46] Great Salt Lake Basin. Um, we've seen

[1:03:49] this uh act repeated several times

[1:03:51] through the legislature and for those

[1:03:53] involved with development or providing

[1:03:56] homes and businesses. I'm interested in

[1:04:00] uh how how that is since that's a

[1:04:04] central thing that needs to happen for

[1:04:06] successful plan on a zero sum game of

[1:04:08] the amount of water that is now

[1:04:10] decreasing with Great Salt Lake and then

[1:04:12] Colorado River you know is likely to

[1:04:15] decrease it or not get bigger right so

[1:04:19] on that front uh where in your plan does

[1:04:22] it say here's the amount of water that

[1:04:25] once we take out a healthy lake and our

[1:04:28] essential needs for potable drinking

[1:04:31] water and business. Um how much is

[1:04:34] allocated for what I'll call um

[1:04:36] discretionary turf? Um and I'm not sign

[1:04:40] talking agriculture is not

[1:04:41] discretionary.

[1:04:43] Um how is that pointed out? And I I'll mention something that I thought

[1:04:47] was really

[1:04:49] uh interesting. uh I believe it was um

[1:04:52] the general manager for um Washington

[1:04:54] County Water Conservancy District had

[1:04:56] gone to his communities and said here's

[1:04:58] we don't have enough water to build the

[1:04:59] number of homes you want unless you use

[1:05:02] less water per household and that got

[1:05:04] the development community actually

[1:05:06] thinking on their own and saying well

[1:05:07] what if we cut the water by you know 50

[1:05:10] 60 70%. Well you can build a whole lot

[1:05:12] more homes

[1:05:14] that's just a simple

[1:05:16] math thing and is that somewhere built

[1:05:19] into here? So that decision is made and

[1:05:21] put forefront because it I would hate

[1:05:23] for the plan to get done and then we all

[1:05:24] seen kumbaya we know it's not going to

[1:05:26] work.

[1:05:28] >> Yeah, absolutely. Uh so we will be we in

[1:05:31] our current water budget. So we do break

[1:05:33] out indoor from outdoor use. Uh and then

[1:05:36] when we get into planning for the

[1:05:38] future, looking at future supply and

[1:05:40] demand, uh we do build in some scenarios

[1:05:43] to look at, you know, what would happen

[1:05:45] if we continue kind of where we're at

[1:05:47] right now. And then what happens if we

[1:05:49] increase our conservation and with that would include also other things

[1:05:54] like lot size. I mean, there's kind of a

[1:05:55] trend going towards building smaller sized lots and and decreasing

[1:06:00] that amount of of turf in there. um you

[1:06:04] know if if we can if we don't implement

[1:06:07] conservation and I believe it was60 is

[1:06:10] what we kind of put those uh scenarios

[1:06:12] out to and again as you move further out

[1:06:15] into time right that uncertainty grows

[1:06:17] but I believe it was around um 475,000

[1:06:22] acre feet that that we would have a

[1:06:23] deficit overall across the state of

[1:06:26] course this varies by by basin and um

[1:06:28] and I can get that information to you

[1:06:31] >> if I can just be a little more clear. I

[1:06:34] think it would be helpful for our

[1:06:35] legislators and our general public to

[1:06:37] understand if you want a certain amount

[1:06:39] of homes with the amount of water we

[1:06:42] have, here's what you can have. What for

[1:06:44] instance, the past studies would say,

[1:06:47] would you like to have a lawn or not?

[1:06:49] >> Well, if that's not an option, you don't

[1:06:52] go tell everyone

[1:06:54] you get where I'm wrong with that. I

[1:06:55] think that

[1:06:56] >> um the more that we can be clear on the

[1:06:59] decisions to be made, on the pros and

[1:07:01] cons, and there's a whiff them, right?

[1:07:02] if I can build more homes, if I'm just a

[1:07:04] developer, um, but yet I allow as a city

[1:07:08] council. So, I work for a city. It's

[1:07:11] hard for them to limit development when

[1:07:13] everyone says thinks they want a a turf

[1:07:15] lawn. The developer saves a lot of

[1:07:17] money. I I call it as a tax that's put

[1:07:20] on a new family and a community if we

[1:07:23] allow future development to include

[1:07:26] nonfunctional turf. And seems as we

[1:07:28] dance around that, we could be dancing

[1:07:30] another 20 years and still not get

[1:07:32] there.

[1:07:32] >> Yeah. And I think the more that we can

[1:07:34] work uh with municipalities to implement

[1:07:37] ordinances that, you know, sort of call

[1:07:39] for what that outdoor landscaping is, I

[1:07:41] think that's going to be important. So

[1:07:42] th those are things that will be called

[1:07:44] out in the plan. And I think one of the

[1:07:46] things that we'd really like to do is is

[1:07:48] work with folks to ch help champion

[1:07:50] those efforts so that we can get to that

[1:07:51] point. I think that's really important.

[1:07:53] And you know what you say too is we

[1:07:56] really need to decide how we want to

[1:07:58] grow. You know, I mean there's a lot of

[1:08:01] conversations about whether or not water

[1:08:03] really is that limiting constraint, but

[1:08:05] do we want to double decker I-15 uh to put more people here? I don't know if

[1:08:11] that's how we want to grow as a state.

[1:08:14] >> I think Tom's telling you to be bold

[1:08:19] in preaching conservation. Other

[1:08:21] questions or comments? Go ahead.

[1:08:25] >> I just want to vote uh voice my thanks

[1:08:28] uh to Stephanie um being a water shed

[1:08:31] liaison and being involved in several

[1:08:33] other groups. I think she's done a good

[1:08:36] job of canvasing the state and trying to

[1:08:37] get input across the state and um this

[1:08:40] is a difficult task to prepare a

[1:08:43] watershed plan uh I mean a state water

[1:08:46] plan especially with all the things

[1:08:49] going on with the great salt lake and

[1:08:51] things and I just wanted to thank her

[1:08:54] for

[1:08:55] the extensive outreach that I've seen so

[1:08:58] far.

[1:08:59] >> Thank you. I appreciate that

[1:09:01] >> comments otherwise we have one online

[1:09:04] from Warren.

[1:09:09] » Thank you Leland. I just wanted to

[1:09:13] underline and shout out something that

[1:09:15] Stephanie's already said that as these

[1:09:17] drafts come out it's really important I

[1:09:20] would suggest to get the drafts read

[1:09:23] them mark them up send them back. I know from past experience that the

[1:09:28] division's been very responsive,

[1:09:30] but they need that feedback. It's

[1:09:32] important. Uh but I wanted to also ask

[1:09:35] Stephanie a question. Do the does the

[1:09:38] plan address the institutional

[1:09:40] architecture for how we do water

[1:09:42] management? Is it is it going to be

[1:09:44] addressed in the plan or is that just

[1:09:46] too too bold of an undertaking?

[1:09:49] Warren, can you expand on institutional

[1:09:54] >> architecture? I was afraid you would ask

[1:09:56] that, but how how do we make water

[1:09:58] decisions? How do we coordinate between

[1:10:00] agencies? Uh who who has do we have

[1:10:04] clear authority in the areas where it is

[1:10:07] needed? Those are some pretty hefty

[1:10:09] questions, but I wondered if the if that

[1:10:12] helps understand what I mean by

[1:10:14] institutional architecture. Are we are

[1:10:17] we structured properly or ideally or

[1:10:19] optimally for how water decisions are

[1:10:22] made, water management decisions are

[1:10:23] made, how forward planning is done and

[1:10:25] so on or or

[1:10:28] as you've put this plan together, have

[1:10:30] you seen areas where maybe we could improve our game by uh maybe

[1:10:37] some adjustments to how we've built the U water management agencies

[1:10:44] and so on.

[1:10:46] I'll I'll take a crack at answering

[1:10:48] that. Uh, you know, I've been with the

[1:10:50] Division of Water Resources since

[1:10:51] January of 2025, so I don't know if I

[1:10:54] have the institutional background to

[1:10:55] fully answer that, but I will say that

[1:10:58] I've been really impressed working on

[1:11:00] the state water plan with all of the

[1:11:02] collaboration and communication with our sister agencies, with the the local

[1:11:06] water conservancy districts, the wershed

[1:11:08] councils. And I to me that's a big part

[1:11:10] of it is just breaking down those silos

[1:11:13] and having everyone communicate so that

[1:11:15] we can really identify maybe where some

[1:11:17] of those gaps are at.

[1:11:20] >> I think there's always improvements

[1:11:22] though and I think that we've seen that

[1:11:23] with a lot of the legislation that's

[1:11:25] coming through. We're we're finding

[1:11:26] those areas where we can change how we

[1:11:28] manage and govern water.

[1:11:31] >> I think if I if I may, Mr. Chair, I' I'd

[1:11:33] go a step along with Stephanie. We we've

[1:11:36] got really great people and very

[1:11:38] dedicated people. We couldn't ask for

[1:11:40] better, but are are we doing things that

[1:11:42] hold them back is my big concern.

[1:11:47] » Thank you. Um he's asking for a

[1:11:50] benevolent water master who is all

[1:11:54] powerful

[1:11:56] >> and and omnicient. We need omnition

[1:11:58] there too, Leand.

[1:11:59] >> There you go.

[1:12:01] Other uh comments or questions from the

[1:12:04] Go ahead.

[1:12:06] You know, I think that's a I think

[1:12:07] that's a great uh concept. Uh when we

[1:12:10] talk about coordination and

[1:12:12] collaboration

[1:12:14] and um you know, what I see is a lot of

[1:12:17] airplanes,

[1:12:19] you know, flying around and um with an

[1:12:23] air traffic controller, you know, trying

[1:12:25] to u find intersecting interest and

[1:12:28] trying to trying to get everybody on the

[1:12:30] same page. There's so many organizations

[1:12:32] that are doing such great things and and

[1:12:34] I think the the creation of the Great

[1:12:36] Salt Lake Commissioner's Office is is

[1:12:38] huge to have that. We also, you know,

[1:12:41] have the Great Salt Lake Sentinel

[1:12:42] Landscape, which is a fairly new

[1:12:44] designation. And the entire intent of

[1:12:47] that organization, which many of you are

[1:12:50] partners of, is to provide that that platform to do collaboration and

[1:12:57] coordination. Um and so far it's working

[1:13:00] quite well. But uh I I think that's

[1:13:03] imperative to have you know every time I

[1:13:05] come here I learn all these different uh

[1:13:07] things that are taking place and uh you

[1:13:09] know having that uh that ability to to

[1:13:13] crosswalk ideas and exchange uh you know

[1:13:17] best practices uh coordinate priorities

[1:13:21] and resources. Uh I think that uh always

[1:13:24] we can do better, but I think we're, you

[1:13:26] know, I think we're making some real

[1:13:27] strides in that regard and I think

[1:13:29] having a the great Salt Lake City

[1:13:31] landscape is is a huge step towards

[1:13:34] attaining that uh that goal. Thanks.

[1:13:36] >> Thank you. Had another comment out here.

[1:13:42] >> Thank you. Um I love your analogy of uh

[1:13:45] all of the planes in flight. Tyler, I

[1:13:48] was just wondering among those planes

[1:13:49] are the watershed councils and um your

[1:13:53] reference to the um opportunities that

[1:13:56] come from those perspectives and those

[1:13:58] on the ground u observations, but there

[1:14:02] is no funding for watershed councils.

[1:14:04] And I was wondering if that is something

[1:14:07] that um in in short order we might be

[1:14:10] able to find funding to help enliven

[1:14:14] their contributions a little a little

[1:14:16] more effectively.

[1:14:19] >> I don't know that I'm the appropriate

[1:14:22] person to answer that. I'm all for it. I

[1:14:24] you know I've met with the watershed

[1:14:25] councils and I hear the frustration of

[1:14:27] the things that they'd like to do but

[1:14:29] needing that funding. Um I'm hoping that comes in future um legislative

[1:14:34] sessions so that folks can you know the

[1:14:37] division of water resources we we are

[1:14:39] fully behind supporting the wershed

[1:14:40] council. So I think that would be great.

[1:14:43] Um as a nonregulatory agency uh the

[1:14:46] division of water resources doesn't have

[1:14:48] that power but um that might be

[1:14:50] something that we could maybe touch on

[1:14:51] in the plan of of supporting those local

[1:14:53] groups.

[1:14:57] Other comments?

[1:15:00] >> Uh yeah, just a question. Is the plan

[1:15:04] ultimately going to

[1:15:06] provide guidance? Is it going to make

[1:15:10] policy recommendations? Is it going to

[1:15:13] identify issues to start out with right

[1:15:16] at the be, you know, at the start? I

[1:15:18] mean, is it going to be an action

[1:15:20] document that we can look to?

[1:15:22] >> That is the the plan uh for for what we

[1:15:25] would like to do. We'd like to provide

[1:15:27] actionable steps and strategies and we'd

[1:15:29] like to do that at the individual,

[1:15:31] local, and state levels for folks. Uh,

[1:15:33] one of the things that's really great

[1:15:34] with uh collaborating with our sister

[1:15:37] agencies and other folks is finding

[1:15:39] folks that can help us to champion those

[1:15:41] efforts. So, what do we want to

[1:15:43] accomplish and who is the right person

[1:15:45] to kind of put behind guiding on that?

[1:15:47] um our our section we have two staff and

[1:15:50] so that'll be part of what we do in

[1:15:52] January of 2027 is starting to help move

[1:15:54] those forward. But yes, the the plan is

[1:15:57] to provide actionable steps and

[1:15:58] strategies that are that are clear.

[1:16:03] » Thank you. Um see no other questions. We

[1:16:06] want to thank Stephanie and for the

[1:16:09] presentation today and for the

[1:16:11] information and encourage everyone here

[1:16:13] to comment on the plan and provide

[1:16:15] feedback when that May time frame rolls

[1:16:18] around and perhaps uh Angela, you could

[1:16:22] get a link to it when it's available and

[1:16:23] send it out to the council members.

[1:16:26] >> Thank you.

[1:16:34] Uh, we're up to our public comment

[1:16:36] period. Do we have any public public

[1:16:39] comment other than Lynn who is going to

[1:16:42] publicly comment to us?

[1:16:44] >> I I just want to thank the Great Salt

[1:16:46] Lake Advisory Council once again for

[1:16:48] your sponsorship support of the Great

[1:16:50] Salt Lake Issues Forum. Um this will be

[1:16:52] an opportunity for us to recognize what

[1:16:54] we've accomplished since 2024 and um

[1:16:59] management issues uh practices policies

[1:17:02] and research. So I look forward to

[1:17:05] hosting you all and thank you again for

[1:17:07] your support and your important work.

[1:17:10] >> We have a comment online from Saurin.

[1:17:14] >> Good morning. I'm sorry I can't be there

[1:17:16] in person because I have have a couple

[1:17:18] meetings back to back and uh didn't have

[1:17:21] the the time to travel where you are.

[1:17:23] But uh good to see you online and listen

[1:17:25] in. Um I have just one thought. Um you

[1:17:29] know my many of you know my role with

[1:17:31] the Jordan River Commission and

[1:17:34] providing staff support to the Jordan

[1:17:36] River Wershed Council. We're grateful to

[1:17:37] have Heidi there representing us today.

[1:17:40] Um we have been thinking a lot about um

[1:17:45] you know how to get messages out. Uh

[1:17:48] there was a lot of discussion when

[1:17:49] Representative Kofford uh was presenting

[1:17:52] earlier about um you know how mandates

[1:17:56] versus uh you know building um just just

[1:18:00] the desire for individuals to get

[1:18:02] involved and engaged. And I think there

[1:18:04] are many people that want to know what

[1:18:06] to do, but they don't often know how to

[1:18:09] do it. We often rely on government

[1:18:12] agencies to be the communicators on

[1:18:15] this, but they're not always effective

[1:18:17] at re reaching the masses. I know a lot

[1:18:20] of people follow closely what happens

[1:18:22] with their city councils and with the

[1:18:25] state legislature, but many people

[1:18:27] don't. And we've been doing a a lot of

[1:18:30] brainstorming with the Jordan River

[1:18:32] Commission about, you know, what what

[1:18:34] are effective messengers of some of

[1:18:36] these issues around conservation, around

[1:18:39] water quality and stewardship.

[1:18:42] And uh we actually think that um

[1:18:45] engaging faith communities would be a

[1:18:47] really valuable tool. You know, we have

[1:18:49] a predominant faith in uh much of Utah,

[1:18:53] but there are many faith communities.

[1:18:55] All of them have substantive um beliefs

[1:19:00] and values around caring for the earth.

[1:19:03] Uh and that's often looked at very

[1:19:05] broadly, but we know here in the Wasatch

[1:19:08] Front region, it's very specific. We

[1:19:10] have a lake that needs our help. And so

[1:19:13] I would love to challenge um the Great

[1:19:15] Salt Lake Advisory Council and and all

[1:19:18] of the watershed councils that are

[1:19:21] working around um the the a healthy lake

[1:19:26] and a healthy riparian system that feeds

[1:19:28] the lake. To think how we might uh

[1:19:31] employ uh faith communities from every

[1:19:35] religious background, but including our

[1:19:38] predominant faith uh organizations.

[1:19:42] uh at the regional level to help tackle

[1:19:45] this really important regional challenge

[1:19:47] that we have. You know, I I I know we've

[1:19:50] had a governor who is part of our uh

[1:19:53] major faith community asking people to

[1:19:55] pray for rain and for water and

[1:19:57] moisture. Um and uh some could argue

[1:20:00] that that maybe has been effective. Um

[1:20:03] you know, uh his call for rain resulted

[1:20:06] in a pretty wet February and early

[1:20:08] March. Um, but there's so much more than

[1:20:11] we need to be doing on the conservation

[1:20:13] front. I I'm a member of that faith

[1:20:15] community as well. And I know I hear

[1:20:17] people in my congregation saying, "We

[1:20:20] prayed for rain and it came and so we

[1:20:22] don't have to worry so much." And I'm

[1:20:24] like, "No, no, we're in a long-term

[1:20:26] drought. Climate change and water

[1:20:28] consumption are affecting the lake." Um,

[1:20:32] and so, you know, I'd love to to just

[1:20:35] find ways to how we can meaningfully

[1:20:37] engage faith communities because that is a really big motivator for so

[1:20:42] many people

[1:20:44] uh in in many faith uh, you know, faith

[1:20:48] communities and would love to find some

[1:20:51] ways to help build messages that can be

[1:20:55] developed and and and encourage the the proliferation of that message across

[1:21:04] faith communities in our region. So just

[1:21:07] a just a thought about, you know, trying

[1:21:10] to engage really effective messengers on

[1:21:13] this really really important topic for a

[1:21:16] healthy lake and and watershed system.

[1:21:20] >> Thank you. That's good comment. Any

[1:21:22] other comments?

[1:21:27] » Thanks, Leland. Um,

[1:21:30] I've been working on water in Utah for

[1:21:32] about 30 years and before that I worked

[1:21:34] in other parts of the country and the

[1:21:36] project that brought me to Utah was the

[1:21:37] Central Utah Completion Act, the Central

[1:21:40] Utah project. And I would ask, you know,

[1:21:43] at all levels to understand kind of how

[1:21:46] that was a really unique successful

[1:21:48] project. I understand it took 30 years

[1:21:50] of negotiation with the Fed to get that

[1:21:52] agreement in place. and I'll offer a

[1:21:55] couple things that could be tools that

[1:21:56] we are tested and would go to the

[1:21:59] future. So I worked 18 years at Salt

[1:22:01] Lake City and now I've been at Sandy for

[1:22:03] almost 10. Um and that agreement both

[1:22:06] Sandy and Salt Lake through Metropolitan

[1:22:08] Water have a petition to the central

[1:22:10] Utah completion act water and a couple

[1:22:13] requirements of receiving water would be

[1:22:16] to meet certain conservation goals that

[1:22:18] were specifically in the contract. And

[1:22:21] if you did not meet that goal, you had

[1:22:22] to pay

[1:22:24] um back to central Utah huge amounts of

[1:22:27] money. Now that money came back into

[1:22:29] conservation to because we don't need

[1:22:30] more money, we need more water. We can

[1:22:32] go find money in other parts of the

[1:22:34] country, but we can't find water and

[1:22:35] bring it here. So I think that's a

[1:22:36] really tested model that was used for

[1:22:39] those cities that started a 100 years

[1:22:42] ago and that could work really well for

[1:22:44] those that want to grow now, the Mason

[1:22:46] communities. And so it becomes a a self

[1:22:50] feedback loop and funds what they need

[1:22:52] to do. The second part of that that I

[1:22:54] would add is that act required

[1:22:57] environmental water development uh

[1:22:59] agricultural water efficiency projects.

[1:23:03] Um and those commitments were all tied

[1:23:05] into a holistic system. I see lots of

[1:23:08] elements of what we're doing with our

[1:23:09] plan. Where' Stephanie go? I can't see

[1:23:11] with the light. But um I really love

[1:23:13] what I'm hearing and seeing and where we

[1:23:15] can repeat that. The other reason I

[1:23:16] offer that out is that there's a memory

[1:23:19] within the older community and a

[1:23:21] recognition in the newer community. Hey,

[1:23:23] that worked. You know, that restored, if

[1:23:25] you look over between Deer Creek and

[1:23:26] Jordanell, that used to not be a

[1:23:28] beautiful river flowing there. That was

[1:23:30] the money from the central Utah project

[1:23:32] paid for by Salt Lake and Sandy and

[1:23:34] those that are receiving that water. I

[1:23:35] know many other districts get that. So,

[1:23:37] I would add in those elements that

[1:23:39] people are familiar with. One of our big

[1:23:41] obstacles has been getting our

[1:23:43] legislators, our municipal leaders to

[1:23:45] get on board. And if we can point to

[1:23:47] something like, well, this is like this

[1:23:49] other program that worked really well.

[1:23:51] How can we use that here? So, um, thank

[1:23:54] you.

[1:23:56] >> Any comment? Uh, any more? One more.

[1:23:59] >> Thank you. I just wanted to take the

[1:24:01] opportunity to introduce myself to the

[1:24:03] council. I'm the new director of the

[1:24:04] division of water resources. I I know

[1:24:06] many of you, but there's a few new

[1:24:07] faces. As you know, Candace Hosene

[1:24:09] Jagger decided to take on a new

[1:24:10] challenge and and go over and lead the

[1:24:12] division of water quality. So, I am

[1:24:14] excited to to work with you through our great team at water resources. I

[1:24:19] know you know many of our team and

[1:24:21] appreciate the coordination that we've

[1:24:23] had with with so many of you. Excited to

[1:24:26] collaborate on on water conservation

[1:24:27] efforts. I know we appreciate the water

[1:24:29] conservancy districts and helping to

[1:24:31] administer the landscape incentive

[1:24:33] program uh removing uh unnecessary grass

[1:24:36] and and putting in water wise plants and

[1:24:38] then also our conservation efforts with toilet replacement and smart

[1:24:43] controllers and would love to be

[1:24:45] involved in those conversations and see

[1:24:46] what we can do to help further the the

[1:24:48] conservation in the state because we do

[1:24:50] see that as being really important going

[1:24:51] forward. So, thank you.

[1:24:53] >> Thank you. Uh we'll close our public

[1:24:55] comment period. We have other member

[1:24:57] discussion. Do we have any uh council

[1:25:00] recommendations on council issues,

[1:25:03] priorities, future council meetings that

[1:25:06] we want to bring up at this point?

[1:25:10] Seeing none,

[1:25:12] um and getting to our last item on the

[1:25:15] agenda, I will take a motion to adjurnn.

[1:25:19] So move.

[1:25:20] >> Thank you.

[1:25:23] >> Got a motion to a second. All in favor?

[1:25:27] I

[1:25:27] >> I

[1:25:28] >> thank you.

Great Salt Lake Advisory Council 3/11/2026

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