CORINNE, Utah — The Great Salt Lake Commissioner says two great water years have put the Great Salt Lake in a much better spot than it was back in 2022.
He says there has also been an increased focus on water conservation.
On Tuesday, FOX 13 News got to tour a district, a business and a farm in Corinne that are utilizing water-saving techniques.
Perennial Favorites in Layton is a wholesale grower. Preston Cox, the founder and owner, said they grow 1.2 million plants on an annual basis.
After concerns grew with the amount of water they were using at their nursery, they decided to make a change two years ago.
"We installed a concrete catch basin that those drains all tie into, and as that fills up, there's some floats in there that so when the water's at the high level, it says, OK, turn the pump on, and it sucks that water from the catch basin, sends it through a filter system," said Cort Cox with Perennial Favorites. "Each one of those tanks is 5,000 gallons, so we have three of them — about 15,000 gallons."
Cort said they put $50,000 into their water reclamation project, and they are reusing water on about 50,000 of their plants.
"During our grow season, which is kind of April through October, we'll collect and reuse anywhere from a million to 1.2 million gallons of water. So we feel like that's really big for us and for our community and for the Great Salt Lake," Cort said.
Joel Ferry is the executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources.
"We've had to get really smart about how we manage water," said Ferry.
He says his family has been ranching in Corinne for 125 years.
"The last couple of years as the state AG Optimization Program has been implemented, we've seen amazing results in water conservation and increased water coming down into these areas," said Ferry.
He told FOX 13 News on Tuesday that we are in the middle of one of the driest and hottest summers on record. However, with these kinds of efforts, he says they still have water to divert back into the Bear River.
"This water that you're seeing is going right to the Bear River which ultimately goes right back into Great Salt Lake, and so on the ground, we're seeing results, we're seeing the benefit," said Ferry. "We're still able to grow really good crops and have enough water that we can return this water back to the Great Salt Lake."
John Parry, the assistant general manager for the Webin Basin Conservancy District, explained how water releases work from the Willard Bay Reservoir.
"We take water out of the Weber River, take it about 11 miles down what we refer to as our Willard Canal, deliver it into Willard Bay Reservoir, where we can then use that water to make either deliveries out to the Great Salt Lake for flood control or other conservation, collaborative efforts we are engaged in," said Parry.
Parry says the reservoir is used as a holding pond to store the water and make strategic releases, including through the Willard Spur to the Great Salt Lake.
Great Salt Lake Commissioner Brian Steed says major strides are being made in the state to save more water.
"We, as a state, have pivoted. I don’t think we are all the way where we need to be, but we are certainly making progress in the right direction to get water where it needs to be in the Great Salt Lake," said Steed.
This article is published through the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative that partners news, education and media organizations to help inform people about the plight of the Great Salt Lake—and what can be done to make a difference before it is too late. Read all of our stories at greatsaltlakenews.org.
