Salt Lake City utilities director: long-range water supplies will meet demand only if conservation and new sources proceed

Salt Lake City Public Utilities Director Laura Briefer on Wednesday told the Planning Commission that the city’s long-range water supply-and-demand planning to 2060 shows supplies will meet projected demand in a historic dry-year scenario only if sustained conservation measures are implemented and additional water sources are developed.

Briefer said the city currently serves roughly 400,000 people and manages water “from the tops of the Wasatch Mountain watersheds, to Great Salt Lake, to Utah Lake, to the Jordan River.” She told commissioners that planning incorporates changing climate information, land-use forecasts and evolving public values about Great Salt Lake and reuse.

The water master-plan nut graf: Briefer presented the city’s supply-and-demand projections and recommended planning scenario, and warned that without further conservation the city would need on the order of 26,000 to 46,000 additional acre-feet per year beyond currently anticipated new sources to meet growth and dry-year demand.

Most important findings and context

Briefer described the city’s mix of water rights and sources — City…