Planning commission forwards Cottonwood Heights water-use chapter to city council

On Dec. 15, the Cottonwood Heights Planning Commission voted to forward a recommendation that the City Council adopt the general plan’s Water Use and Preservation element, a chapter that outlines coordination with regional water providers, watershed protection priorities and long-term conservation strategies.

Staff summarized minor edits since the previous meeting, including replacing “watershed” with “water resources” in the mission statement, adding the phrase “historic rapid population growth,” adding infrastructure monitoring, and inserting a short-term strategy to "explore opportunities to have a city representative on the Public Utilities Advisory Committee of Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities" and to add "as needed" to Goal 4 short-term strategies. Staff recommended a positive recommendation to council, citing the staff memo and an attachment dated 12/15/2025.

Commissioners questioned how the commission and city should measure per-capita water use. One commissioner explained that jurisdictions compute per-capita use differently—some count only residential use while others include commercial, institutional and industrial use—and said the state engineer currently lacks statutory authority to standardize that calculation, so any change would require state legislation. Staff said they would check with the city attorney and report back on the city’s legal relationship with its water supplier and how the metric should be applied locally.

Commissioners also debated whether education alone can achieve conservation goals and whether financial incentives are needed. A commissioner noted a recent Salt Lake City rate structure change "targeted" to reduce consumption, saying, "The more water you use, the higher price you pay for it." Another commissioner characterized that as a disincentive and urged combining education with financial incentives or rebates.

Commissioner Michael Smith, speaking from an online connection, said he supports the chapter’s goals and highlighted opportunities in the city’s secondary irrigation water and small-scale measures such as rain-barrel programs. "I think with some good education, it seems to me that there are ways to enhance our water use practices that will be beneficial," he said, and suggested incentives or discounted programs to increase adoption.

The commission opened the public hearing for the chapter but recorded no public testimony in person or online. Following discussion, a commissioner moved to forward a recommendation of approval to the City Council "based on the findings listed in the staff memo and attachment dated 12/15/2025." The motion was seconded and the chair conducted a roll-call; the commission recorded affirmative votes and moved the item to the council for consideration prior to year-end.

Votes at a glance: the motion to forward the Water Use and Preservation element passed with all commissioners recorded as voting in the affirmative in the roll-call conducted by the chair. The transcript records affirmative responses for Commissioner Michael Smith and for commissioners called in roll call as Mills, Polson/Paulson (spelled inconsistently in the transcript), Shelton, Barnes, Lugo and Steinman.

The commission then approved the Dec. 3, 2025 meeting minutes on the consent agenda by recorded voice/roll-call votes and adjourned the meeting.

Next steps: the forwarded chapter will be reviewed by the City Council; staff indicated they will provide additional legal clarification about the city's relationship with its water supplier and the statutory limits on how per-capita water use is computed if requested by the council.