Committee backs requirement for low‑water turf and irrigation audits at state properties
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Summary
The committee favorably recommended SB252, which would direct state facility projects to use low‑water turf for new landscaping and add distribution‑uniformity metrics to irrigation audits; DFCM and the Division of Water Resources supported the measure as a conservation step for the Great Salt Lake watershed.
Lawmakers voted to advance SB252, a bill requiring low‑water‑use turf on new landscaping projects at state‑owned facilities and directing facility audits to measure irrigation distribution uniformity.
Sponsor Senator Pitcher (S17) and Andy Mara (S18), director of the Division of Facilities Construction and Management (DFCM), described the proposal as a practical step to reduce outdoor water use; Mara said some low‑water turf options can cut irrigation needs by 50%–75% and that auditors would report on distribution uniformity so the state can identify inefficient systems. "It gives us authority to make rules that we would essentially insert a requirement to report on your irrigation efficiency and your facility condition audits," Mara said.
Committee members asked about effective dates and costs for projects already designed. Mara said the effective date applies to projects commencing after that date and that major upgrades could be added to the capital improvements list funded by the legislature. Joel Williams, director of the Utah Division of Water Resources, testified in support and framed the change as a leadership step to encourage private citizens to conserve.
Public commenters including Jane Carlson Myers described household xeriscaping and cited the Great Salt Lake water‑loss challenge as justification for the state to model conservation.
Representative Owens moved a favorable recommendation for the first substitute of SB252; the motion passed by voice vote in committee and the bill advanced to the next stage of consideration.