Planning commission recommends new water-conservation chapter for Salt Lake City general plan

The Salt Lake City Planning Commission on a unanimous vote recommended that the City Council adopt a new water-conservation and land-use chapter (PLN PCM 202500481) to Plan Salt Lake.

The proposed chapter responds to a state directive to add a water element to municipal general plans by Dec. 31 and lays out six components including an updated supply-and-demand analysis, methods to reduce per-capita consumption, city-operations conservation, coordination with the city's water conservation plan, regular updates and sustainable landscaping policies. "The state last year said, hey, municipalities. Yes. You need to update your general plan with a water element," Planner Mikaela Bell said during the public hearing.

The recommendation matters because Salt Lake City is a major water provider to neighboring jurisdictions and because the city's water strategy ties land-use choices to long-range supply planning. "The supply and demand plans are conducted under a statutory requirement for the management of the city's water rights. So we have to show out at least 40 years that we will put the water rights that we hold to beneficial use," Laura Briefer, director of Salt Lake City Public Utilities, said, describing how the water supply and demand plan and the conservation plan inform the new chapter.

Key details in the draft chapter - The draft draws projected population and water-use scenarios from the public utilities' supply-and-demand plan and identifies "scenario 2" as the conservation-focused scenario the city favors. - The draft calls for periodic updates to the supply-and-demand plan, at least every five years or sooner if conditions change, and for cross-department coordination between planning and public utilities. - Proposed tools include identifying land uses with high water demand, exploring lot-size and middle-housing strategies that lower per-capita use, updating irrigation for city properties (parks and golf courses were singled out), and adopting state-recommended sustainable landscaping measures already largely implemented in Salt Lake City.

Public comment and concerns Resident Cindy Cromer, who spoke during the public hearing, urged stronger attention to the Great Salt Lake and broader reuse measures, and called for more discussion of graywater and turf alternatives. "The Great Salt Lake is a source of increased air pollution and decreased snow pack," Cromer said, and urged more attention to graywater and turf replacement rather than expanding rock landscaping.

Staff and the public utilities director said many of Cromer's concerns are under development or are addressed in the separate water conservation plan that is being updated in 2025 and referenced in the general-plan amendment. Briefer noted graywater and reuse are on the conservation plan's radar and that the city runs a turf-replacement program developed with Utah State University.

Commission discussion and motions Commissioners discussed the relationship between density and water use, with several commissioners asking whether the chapter should explicitly cross-reference the city's housing and middle-housing programs. Commissioner Rosenfield moved an amendment to add language directing evaluation of the per-capita water-use impact of implementing middle-housing elements of the plan. That motion failed on a 5-4 vote (Rosenfield: yes; Vela: no; Krasick: yes; Berry: no; Christiansen: yes; Scott: no; Leverett: no; Barrett: yes; chair: no), according to roll-call votes taken on the record.

A subsequent motion by Commissioner Christiansen to recommend the proposed chapter without Rosenfield's amendment passed unanimously (9-0). The commission recorded an affirmative recommendation to forward PLN PCM 202500481 to the Salt Lake City Council for adoption.

The planning staff emphasized that the new chapter will be used to evaluate future text amendments and development proposals for consistency with the city's water goals and that the water supply-and-demand plan and the conservation plan will continue to be updated and used as the technical basis for policy.

Next steps The commission forwarded the positive recommendation to the City Council for final consideration. The staff requested the council complete the adoption by the state deadline.