Senate rejects water-usage bill after debate on enforcement and scope

Senators debated Third Substitute House Bill 538, a measure the sponsor described as addressing water management on the Wasatch Front and collecting local data to inform state policy for the Great Salt Lake basin. Senator McCall, sponsor of the substituted bill, said the penalties were removed and the measure is intended to encourage local planning and data collection rather than to impose statewide enforcement.

"This bill sunsets out after 5 years," McCall said, adding that the substitute removed penalties and seeks to "get good data to see if it's successful." Several senators questioned how the bill would operate in practice. Senator Winterton asked whether the voluntary language meant the bill was necessary at all: "If the bill is just kind of voluntarily, why do we need it then?" he asked on the floor.

Other senators warned that even without state penalties, local ordinances adopted under the bill could create enforceable penalties. Senator Fillmore noted language directing retail water suppliers to adopt ordinances that "prohibit the use of culinary water during the shoulder season," asking that such local rules could themselves include penalties and therefore indirectly impose sanctions.

After floor debate and a summation urging support based on data collection and a sunset provision, the roll-call vote failed: Third Substitute House Bill 538 received 9 yea votes, 18 nay votes and 2 absent and will be sent to staff for filing.