Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Water Conservation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
South Jordan hears drought-response plan, council keeps splash pads open while prioritizing trees and fields
Summary
Public works presented a four‑tier drought-response plan that would protect trees and athletic fields while reducing irrigation elsewhere; council urged monitoring and communication and agreed for now to maintain splash‑pad service while pausing large decorative features and tracking water use.
Mayor Dawn Ramsey convened the South Jordan City Council to hear a water‑conservation and drought‑mitigation presentation from Colby Hill, the city’s associate director of public works. Hill framed the proposal as an operational response to a continuing drought and a recent Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District request for a 10% voluntary reduction in water use.
Hill said the city’s draft plan sorts properties into four tiers to preserve the city’s most irreplaceable assets. “Our top tier protects our trees,” Hill said. He described athletic fields and civic landscapes as part of tier 1, high‑use turf and gathering spaces as tier 2, lower‑use turf as tier 3 and park strips and undeveloped open space as tier 4. Hill recommended reducing irrigation on athletic fields to roughly 70–90 percent of evapotranspiration (ET), tier 3 to 50–60 percent ET, and tier 4 to 20–30 percent ET, noting that some brown spotting and summer dormancy are to be expected.
Council members asked staff for practical steps and resident outreach. Hill said staff will hand‑irrigate trees when necessary, convert nonfunctional turf to xeriscape where feasible and consider converting some athletic fields to artificial turf in the future. He also recommended limiting hours or days of operation for splash pads and other decorative water features to reduce evaporation losses.
Rachel Van Cleave, the city’s public information officer, outlined public education and reporting tools: “Postcards should be hitting every household this week,” she said, and pointed to an updated WaterSmart SoJo web page for weekly watering guidance and reservoir information.
Several council members pressed for caution on limiting splash pads because they are a free cooling resource for families and use recirculating systems. One council member suggested alternating closed days so not all splash pads are offline at once. Another recommended beginning savings by turning off large decorative fountains (for example at the Public Safety building and the cemetery) while keeping splash‑pad schedules intact and monitoring outcomes.
After discussion the council agreed with the plan’s priorities and asked staff to proceed with the tiered approach, expand public outreach, post explanatory signs in parks and provide weekly briefings so the council can adjust operations if conditions change. Hill told the council staff will share park‑tier maps with maintenance crews and continue evaluating sites that may need to move between tiers.
The council did not adopt an ordinance; instead, members directed staff to implement the draft conservation measures immediately and report back as conditions evolve.
