With May just days away, cities across Utah are rolling out water restrictions — and some say these are the strictest yet.
“This year’s much worse than we’ve ever had before,” said Scott Paxman with Weber Basin Water.
Paxman said reservoirs are sitting around 39% capacity. This year, the conservancy district is turning on irrigation water a month later and also turning it off a month earlier.
“We usually have the winter and the snowpack, so our reservoirs are gaining significantly. But not this year,” he said.
Weber Basin Water customers can only water lawns once a week on assigned watering days and that’s timed, too. According to its Facebook posta watering equals twenty minutes of overhead spray or forty minutes of rotor.
Addresses that end with the number 0 or 2 must water on Mondays and addresses that end with the number 1 or 3 must water on Tuesdays. On Wednesdays, addresses that end with the number 4 or 6 can water their lawns and on Thursday, addresses that end with the number 5 or 7 can water their lawns. Addresses that end with the number 8 or 9 must water on Friday.
Homeowners could face fines if the rules aren’t followed.
“We really need to get people’s attention to try to comply with the restrictions because we just don’t have the water,” Paxman said.
The city of Riverdale also issued similar and “necessary” restrictions. There will be no outside watering until May and no watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. There will also be a 10% reduction in indoor water usage.
The splash pad at Riverdale Park will be closed for the year. Riverdale Park and Golden Spike Park will be watered regularly so the community can continue enjoying the parks, but other city-owned landscaping will follow resident water restrictions. No flowers or annuals will be planted this year by the city.
The city of Lehi also announced its water restrictions. Assistant city administrator Cameron Boyle said the city is in a “severe shortage,” reaching phase three water restrictions level.
“This is the most restrictive we have,” he said. “As far as our tiers for watering restrictions.”
Starting in May, Lehi residents can only water their lawns twice a week and must avoid hard-surface washing.
“No spraying off your driveway if it’s dusty or those types of things,” said Boyle.
Lehi homeowners may also face fines for not following restrictions.
