Salt Lake City presents 2025 water conservation plan; public hearing set for Dec. 2

Salt Lake City Public Utilities presented its 2025 Water Conservation Plan at the City Council work session on Nov. 25, describing the five‑year update required by state law and setting a timeline for local adoption. The department said the plan lays out supply and demand analyses, a historical baseline, conservation goals at 5‑, 10‑ and multi‑decadal horizons, program lists and a communications strategy.

“Since the year 2000, we’ve had a reduction in total demand of about 23%,” Stephanie Dewar, the city’s water conservation program manager, told the council as she reviewed historical trends and the plan’s technical underpinnings. Staff said peak‑day demand has fallen roughly 30% and that investments in conservation have reduced capital needs—staff estimated about $450 million in avoided capital expense since 2000 and roughly a 21,000 acre‑foot annual average reduction in use over that period.

The plan identifies a long‑term conservation need above current levels of roughly 20,000 acre‑feet, a gap projected on a multi‑decadal timeline (staff described that need as occurring toward mid‑century). Public Utilities staff said they use disaggregated customer classifications (residential, commercial, institutional and sub‑categories) to set per‑connection targets and to design tailored programs, such as outdoor irrigation guidance, rebates and rate‑structure options.

Council members asked detailed questions about how the plan links to the Great Salt Lake. “We’ve been asked as part of the conservation plan to do a study on the impacts of conservation on the Great Salt Lake,” Dewar said, adding the administration has requested work to scope impacts related to diversions and depletion for specific customer classes. The department said the study is in scoping.

On outreach and implementation, staff described a new five‑year communications strategy that will include multilingual materials, infographics and targeted work with the city’s communications team and partners. Public Utilities noted it has conducted a virtual town hall, two in‑person open houses and a public survey (approximately 150 respondents) to inform outreach priorities.

The council was told the formal public hearing on the conservation plan will be Dec. 2, and the administration will return Dec. 9 for possible adoption. The department asked council members to review staff policy questions in the transmittal and provide feedback before the hearing.