Candace Hossinger, director of the Division of Water Resources, opened a public Water Talk in Vernal and introduced the agency's draft approach to the next State Water Plan. "My name is Candace Hossinger. I'm the director at the Division of Water Resources," she told attendees, then turned the meeting over to Stephanie McGinnis, the state water plan manager, who led the presentation and public-engagement discussion.

McGinnis said the plan is intended as a strategic framework — not a regulatory document — that summarizes current water resources, outlines drivers of change and identifies actionable strategies for state, local and individual decision-makers. "The purpose of the state water plan is to provide an overview of current water resources and also outline strategies and actionable steps at the individual local and state levels to help us address current challenges," McGinnis said.

Why it matters: presenters highlighted prolonged drought and falling reservoir levels as central drivers for the plan. McGinnis noted that, based on U.S. Drought Monitor data for 2000–2019, Utah spent roughly 40–50% of that period in some level of drought. She also referenced record low storage in the Colorado River Basin, showing a 2021 photo of a low Lake Powell and estimating the reservoir at roughly 26% full when she last checked.

Planned content and priorities: McGinnis said the State Water Plan will include nine chapters. The presentation focused on chapters 2 through 8, which cover: assessments of Utah's water constraints and current supply-and-use accounting; drivers of change such as climate and population trends; administration and roles of state, regional and local water entities; watershed and ecosystem protection; community water systems and infrastructure; and support for productive agriculture. Examples discussed included:

- Data and basin-level water budgets, including diversions, depletions and return flows, with plans to produce comparative figures for each of the state’s basins.

- New and emerging monitoring tools, including an Airborne Snow Observatory (ASO) pilot currently under way to better estimate snow water equivalent across basins.

- Administrative topics such as interstate compacts, court decrees and federally reserved water rights (including tribal rights), plus a newer Unified Infrastructure Plan (UIP) intended to improve coordination and funding for infrastructure projects.

- Agricultural support programs: the Agricultural Water Optimization Program (a competitive grant program) and the Agricultural Voluntary Incentive Program administered by the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (referred to in the presentation using the transcript label "UDEF"). McGinnis said the optimization program divides funding into two primary categories: on-farm projects and canal/irrigation-company projects.

Public engagement and timeline: McGinnis told the audience the agency is holding similar basin meetings across 11 basins, will spend the winter drafting the plan, and expects to release a draft for public comment next summer. The presentation repeated the Division's objective — mandated by statute — to publish the next State Water Plan by December 2026. Attendees were invited to provide input via an on-site survey, an online survey and an email address shown on the slide (rendered in the transcript as "state water plan. Utah dot gov"). QR codes and a watershed-council webpage were shown to help attendees sign up for updates and local watershed meetings.

Local coordination and next steps: McGinnis thanked local partners, including the UNTA Watershed Council and two local conservancy districts (named in the transcript as the Yinta Water Conservancy District and the D'Shane County Water Conservancy District) for help with the venue and outreach. She described a breakout format for the Vernal meeting in which attendees rotate among three topic tables (Healthy Watersheds and Ecosystems; Vibrant Communities; Productive Agriculture) in roughly 20-minute sessions, with staff recording comments for transcription and follow-up.

No formal actions or votes were taken at the meeting. The Division emphasized the plan's advisory role and said it aims to inform decision-makers including state legislators. Attendees were asked to be respectful during table discussions and were encouraged to sign up for future notifications and to provide written feedback during the next public comment period.