Draper staff urge 10% voluntary cut after Jordan Valley declares Level 2 shortage

Draper staff told the council that the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District’s drought-monitoring committee has voted to place the region at a Level 2 shortage and is asking member agencies for a voluntary 10% reduction in water use.

At a council meeting, staff explained Level 2 is a severe-shortage designation and emphasized the request is voluntary unless a member exceeds 110% of its contract volume, which would trigger financial penalties. “They’re asking all users, both the retail customers as well as the wholesale customers, to reduce our consumption by 10%,” staff said during the briefing.

Staff reviewed the city’s current delivery figures and internal conservation plan. They said Draper is tracking deliveries (reported in the presentation as roughly 49.39 acre-feet) and estimated that a 10% reduction would lower deliveries to about 44.45 acre-feet. City staff also described a three-tier system for watering municipal properties: priority 1 (city hall, cemetery, major sports fields), priority 2 (neighborhood parks), and priority 3 (park strips and minor landscape areas). The plan allows staff to focus limited irrigation on high-use sites to maintain public amenities while reducing overall consumption.

Officials said technical constraints — including many irrigation controllers that are battery-powered and cannot be centrally disabled quickly — complicate rapid shutdowns. Staff recommended accelerating public messaging to residents to delay typical seasonal watering and to follow Jordan Valley’s guidance; they noted the city could reduce recreational operations if conditions worsen.

The council did not take an emergency regulatory step at the meeting; staff said they will return with further messaging and operational details as the situation develops.