Durant criticizes Great Salt Lake spending and urges water-efficient rules for data centers

Matt Durant said water is a finite, nonrenewable resource in Utah and urged lawmakers to prioritize efficient reuse over what he called financially wasteful interventions. He criticized recent state purchases of water rights intended for the Great Salt Lake and questioned whether the expenditures would produce practical benefits for farmers and residents: "They're taking real water and just dumping it into the Salt Lake... so if we're really in the drought that we are in and we need that water for farming, for residential, for all these other things, why are we wasting it like that?" he asked.

Durant said he believes parts of Great Salt Lake spending have been used to fund ancillary studies and programs rather than solving core water problems. He suggested adopting household- and development-level conservation technologies, such as multi-use greywater systems and rainwater harvesting, so water is used several times before discharge.

On data centers, Durant said building standards matter: he opposed evaporative open systems that waste water and urged closed-loop cooling and other efficient technologies. "Data centers... can also be very efficient with their use of water," he said, recommending that the state require water-efficient design for planned facilities.

Durant also raised power-supply concerns tied to data centers, proposing energy diversification including nuclear, solar and wind, and argued that large users should pay for the energy they consume and consider on-site generation such as rooftop solar to lower grid strain.

These positions were expressed in a one-hour candidate interview and represent Durant's stated priorities rather than enacted policy.