Utah reservoirs are socking away the water to store for next year

Statewide reservoir storage across Utah remains at an average of 77% capacity, an overall 6% decline from last month.

Overall, however, the major river basins look to be in good shape and have weathered the searing summer heat by maintaining decent capacity as the summer comes to a close.

The latest report issued this month by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service said the Provo-Utah Lake-Jordan basin dropped in capacity by 13%; Weber-Ogden was down by 22%; Bear dipped by 11% and southwest Utah suffered a loss of 12%. Those values changed from July 1 to Sept. 1.

The struggles of central and southern Utah

Other regions in Utah did not fare so well, with water levels that have been depleted at a much faster rate.

San Pitch took the biggest sucker punch, dropping by 62%; both Tooele-Vernon Creek and Beaver took hits of 44% and Upper Sevier lost capacity of 31%.

“While Utah’s reservoirs are generally in good shape, we continue to encourage water managers to conserve water where possible to prepare for the possibility of a return to drought conditions in future years,” the report noted.

Across Utah, even this late in the water year, some of the basins are doing well with their performance of the median of precipitation. Eight basins that include the Weber-Ogden and the Provo-Utah Lake-Jordan — major water suppliers for the Wasatch Front — remain above average.

The miracle of monsoon season

Each summer, Utah’s thirsty landscapes and water managers around the state have hope etched in the skies that clouds and the attendant storms will deliver relief-giving moisture. This summer did not disappoint, the report noted.

“While Utah’s mountains typically get some decent precipitation during the month of August due to the seasonal monsoon, this year’s August was better than average. Utah received 2.7 inches of new precipitation during the month, which is 178% of normal,” the analysis said. “This brings our statewide water year to date precipitation to 105% of normal, up 2% from last month. Utah’s mountain soil moisture levels responded nicely to the monsoonal moisture — though it should be noted that soils have been quickly drying since most of that precipitation fell in the middle to late portion of August.”

Saving water for those not so rainy days

Despite the amount of water in many of the state’s reservoirs, it is not time to let the water flow unhindered. As the nights get cooler and growing season winds down, irrigation systems are also preparing to shut off the valves for the coming fall and winter.

Weber Basin Water Conservancy District, which operates the largest secondary water system in the West serving more than 18,000 connections, will end its irrigation season Oct. 15.

Most districts use that date as the cut-off for delivery of secondary water, but the Utah Division of Water Resources says just because the water is there, does not mean it needs to be used.

The division has a weekly lawn watering guide and for this week, most areas are down to two weekly outdoor water applications or three at the most. Conditions change from week to week.