Water district proposes voluntary ultra‑efficient home standard to cut per‑household water by about one‑third

Ivins — At a work meeting April 3, Doug Bennett of the regional water district presented a voluntary “ultra water efficient” development standard that would aim to reduce typical household water supply from about 0.59 acre‑feet to 0.39 acre‑feet, or roughly one third less than the prior standard.

Bennett told the Ivins City Council the program is intended to be voluntary and adaptable to both small urban lots and larger rural lots. “The objective of this program was to come up with a design that would encourage new single family homes that would use a third less water than the current standard,” he said. The district would offer reduced regional impact fees as an incentive; Bennett said current impact fees are calculated on a typical 10,000‑square‑foot lot and are currently $13,500, and an impact‑fee study underway is expected to raise fees in the future.

The proposal would pair smaller water allocations with site and landscaping rules. Bennett said houses built to the standard…