Chapter Ten
WATER USE & PRESERVATION
WATER USE & PRESERVATION
The Salt Lake Valley is located in a semi-arid climate and receives approximately 20.49 inches of precipitation per year. As the second driest state in the nation, Utah places a high value on water and its conservation.
Over the past decade, the snowpack in the mountains surrounding the Salt Lake Valley has been slowly declining due to warmer-than- average temperatures and shifting weather patterns reducing the amount of water available for urban development. At the same time, the Salt Lake Valley has experienced tremendous growth, placing greater demand on the water supply and City infrastructure.
To conserve water resources statewide, in 2022, the Utah State Legislature passed Senate Bill 110, requiring cities to add a Water Use and Preservation element to its General Plan and meet several required water use preservation standards that are addressed below. This chapter has been developed to provide a general overview of the City’s water resources, establish policies and goals to help conserve water and meet State requirements.
Approximately 80% of the water distributed to the southwestern portion of the Salt Lake valley, which includes West Jordan, comes from the Jordanelle Reservoir and Deer Creek Reservoir, as well as smaller reservoirs at the headwaters of the Provo River. The remaining 20% of the water comes from groundwater wells scattered throughout the Salt Lake valley. This water is treated by the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District and then sold to West Jordan for distribution.
Over the past 10 years, an average of 87% of West Jordan’s water was supplied by the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District. An average of 10% came from underground wells scattered throughout the city, while the remaining 3% was untreated secondary water.
West Jordan has purchased additional water shares from the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District in anticipation of increasing demand. More specifically, the amount of water shares has consistently remained above demand and has steadily grown at an average rate of 2% per year, as shown in the following graph. Despite this increase in water supplied to West Jordan, these facts should not be misconstrued to conclude that the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District has a surplus in supply. To the contrary, the total amount of water shares granted by the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District has actually grown increasingly close to their total supply threshold over the past two decades. This means that they can technically offer some shares presently, but their ability to do so will be much more limited in the future based on reservoir levels and the effect of water conservation efforts. On the other hand, water demand has followed a different trend by falling during the first half of the past decade, then rising in the second half. Since its low point a few years ago, water demand has increased at an average annual rate of 6% per year since 2017. As of 2020, water supply continues to remain higher than demand.
Nearly all of the water supplied to West Jordan is culinary water used for indoor or outdoor application. Most of the water connections in West Jordan serve residential land uses, which have been increasing steadily since 2010. These types of connections account for an estimate of roughly 90% of all water connections throughout the City. Non-residential water connections comprise the remaining 10%. Much of this water infrastructure growth is similar to the trends of new residential building permits issued over the past decade, which have also been increasing.
Source: Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District
Source: Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District
It is important to note that each type of land use has fluctuating demand for water. Residential demand comprises over half of the total water demand but has remained fairly steady over the last 10 years. Commercial water use was much higher in the early 2010s but has steeply declined since. The demand for industrial and institutional uses has fluctuated from year to year but has seen a relatively substantial increase in the past five years.
Although most of the supplied water in West Jordan is culinary, it is often applied to both indoor and outdoor uses. Generally, outdoor use has comprised more than half of the total supplied water and has been decreasing since 2000 at an average annual rate of 1%.
Outdoor water use occurs between the months of April and November, with peak usage occurring in July and August.
In addition to water supply and demand, infrastructure and serviceability play a crucial role in providing water. During the past decade, the City has struggled to keep up with water pressure tank construction due to increased development and steady growth. The City will need to construct new tanks and supporting infrastructure in many of the water pressure zones of the City before any new developments that increase the density from the current designated land use can be approved. The City is currently constructing a water tank in Zone 3B near the Wight’s Fort Cemetery, two tanks in Zones 5 and 6 within the planned Dry Creek Highlands development west of Bacchus Highway, and one tank within Zone 7 in the southwest corner of the City.
To adequately manage and plan for future demand on the City’s water resources, the West Jordan Water Master Plan has been adopted to assess the available water supply, evaluate the adequacy of the projected water supply to meet projected demands and identify and prioritize system improvements that are needed to resolve anticipated deficiencies in the City’s water service area. The City has also adopted the Water Conservation Plan, which discusses the City’s efforts to reduce water consumption, recommends water conservation measures and sets goals to further reduce water use.
The West Jordan City Code also contains numerous water efficiency and conservation standards such as limiting turf and requiring water efficient irrigation systems that are applied to new development.
The following policies and goals throughout this chapter should be used to help minimize water usage citywide.
Source: Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District