SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s capital city approved an emergency measure earlier this year to crack down on the amount of water new nonresidential developments use daily.
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The measure complicated the federal government’s desire to build an immigrant detention center on the city’s west side at the time, but the city could strengthen those restrictions as its leaders look to permanently include the measure in code.
Salt Lake City is considering a new ordinance that would limit new nonresidential properties to 200,000 gallons per day, mirroring the emergency order issued in March. Uses tied to agriculture would be exempt, as would water consumed by schools, government-owned or operated facilities that primarily provide social services, places of worship and hospitals.
Since there is no definition of “social services” within the city’s zoning code, it’s relying on the dictionary definition, which states that it is any program that offers assistance with basic needs, such as food, housing, safety, job training or medical needs, including behavioral health, said Nick Norris, the city’s planning director.
Most industries can operate within that 200,000-gallon frame, including food processing plants or hospitals, Laura Briefer, director of the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities, explained to city leaders. Oil refining was one of the rare outliers during a study conducted a few years ago.
If most industries were already keeping water use under 200,000 acres per day, some city leaders pushed for potentially reducing the number below 200,000 gallons.
“We have got to get our heads and our hands around the water crisis, and start to manage things more responsibly. It’s literally a human survival issue, so … I would be happier if we went even stricter,” said Salt Lake City Councilwoman Victoria Petro.
A growing drought
Whatever the city decides, it would replace the emergency order that Salt Lake City approved in March, as it is slated to expire on Sept. 20. The City Council approved the order as it became abundantly clear that the city was in for a rough drought.
Utah’s record-low snowpack created water challenges in the city and across the state. Salt Lake City returned to the second stage of its water shortage plan a week before the order was approved, when it was clear that this year’s spring runoff would peak at or near record lows. That was ultimately the case for many Utah waterways this spring.
Hot and dry conditions have only worsened drought conditions since then.
Salt Lake City received 0.23 inches of rain from a storm on Tuesday, doubling its rain total this meteorological summer, which began on June 1. Yet, entering Wednesday, Salt Lake City’s precipitation since Jan. 1 was 4.61 inches below normal; its water year total, dating back to Oct. 1, was 2.02 inches below normal, thanks to a record-rainy October.
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At the same time, it’s been extremely hot lately. Temperatures reached as high as 109 degrees earlier this month, setting a new highest temperature ever recorded since the National Weather Service began tracking the city’s weather in 1874. Salt Lake City also experienced its second-hottest first half since at least 1948, per National Centers for Environmental Information data.
These have drastically worsened drought conditions. A little more than two-thirds of Salt Lake County is now in extreme drought, including nearly all of the Salt Lake Valley, while the rest is in severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The county was split between “abnormally dry” and moderate drought in late March.
Salt Lake City leaders were also trying to stop the Immigration and Customs Enforcement from converting an 833,000-square-foot warehouse into an immigration detention center with the capacity for at least 7,500 detainees at the time the emergency order was approved. Such a facility would likely use 1 million to 2 million gallons of water every day, said Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall.
Thus, the facility would likely run into issues with the order.
“As mayor, a primary responsibility I have is to ensure residents have access to clean water, reliable utilities and safe infrastructure,” Mendenhall said at the time. “Put simply, a potential high-occupancy facility interferes with those needs.”
Tightening the code?
Although the facility has apparently stalled amid reports that the federal government is now trying to offload the property, threats tied to the worsening drought loomed over Tuesday’s discussion about a permanent code.
Multiple city councilors agreed with Petro that the permanent code could be stricter, which may include reducing exemptions. City planners were also tasked with clarifying social services after concerns that data centers could find loopholes in that exemption.
The City Council is planning to hold a public hearing on the measure on Aug. 18, before a potential vote later in August to beat the Sept. 20 deadline.
“I think this council feels very strongly about the use of water,” said City Council Chairman Alejandro Puy, adding that he’d also like to see ways to encourage more efficiency from existing uses. “We want … to find out what tools we have available.”
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