This year we incorporated new water conservation incentive programs within our department, including a new grass seed program and a new rebate program, both of which will be available this spring. We also partnered with water conservancy districts to make rebate and incentive programs available to all residents in our service area. In partnership with City Planning, we adopted a new zoning ordinance prohibiting very large water users in our City. And, finally, through effective public engagement, our residents saved more than 2 billion gallons of water this summer in response to the significant drought we experienced.

In 2021 the City completed the technical components associated with our watershed management plan that will be brought to the public for feedback in 2022, including addressing wildfire and climate change risks in our headwaters. We continued to advocate for a federal land conservation bill associated with Mountain Accord through CWC, and spent countless hours as a cooperating agency as part of UDOT’s Little Cottonwood Environmental Impact Statement, advocating strongly for the EIS to include water resources as a major consideration of any actions to be taken in the Little Cottonwood Canyon watershed. We forged a new collaboration agreement with the US Forest Service on the protection of the Wasatch watersheds, as well as a funding agreement with the USFS to use GFOA funds to support a Public Utilities employee to design better sanitation at trailheads in the watersheds. We also collaborated with statewide working groups to protect Utah Lake, Great Salt Lake, and the Jordan River, resulting in a spotlight being placed on maintaining water flows to the Great Salt Lake ecosystem. Finally, our City team advocated to protect the City’s water rights in the State Utah Lake Jordan River water right adjudication, successfully protecting the City’s water resource interests through astute legal work (this work will be ongoing in 2022 and the next few years).

In 2021 the City applied for and received approval for a combination of $4 million in state and City ARPA funds to improve stormwater and flood control issues in the Granary District. The City also applied for a $52.4 million grant via the federal Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program to rehabilitate the aging City Creek water treatment plant, and will find out in 2022 if the project is awarded. The City continues to utilize a $348 million federal low interest loan under the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) to finance a new sewer treatment plant, saving an estimated $100 million for our ratepayers compared to using bonds. In 2021, the City also allocated ARPA funding to the City’s Water Assist program to help those in need to pay their water bills, and entered into an agreement with the State of Utah to make state funding available to our residents to help those experiencing difficult times to pay their utility bills. In 2021, the City completed a first phase of a community Financial Capability Assessment to inform future financing and rate strategies over the next several years to replace aging water infrastructure.