The nation’s fastest-growing and second-driest state had a banner year for water conservation as it plays catch-up to the rest of the West.
By Mark Olalde, ProPublica
Utah policymakers billed the 2022 legislative session as the “year of water.” Gov. Spencer Cox signed into law more than 15 measures related to water conservation, heralding “generational” progress as the West’s megadrought continues well into its third decade.
Those pieces of legislation allow farmers to earn money by sending their water downstream to shrinking lakes, require water meters for landscaping, appropriate $40 million to protect the Great Salt Lake and more. But perhaps more telling were proposals that lawmakers carved up or voted down.

Legislators in the country’s fastest-growing and second-driest state rejected a bill meant to address leaky pipes. New laws aimed at mandating low-flow plumbing both in state facilities and new homes had to be scaled back to win passage. And regulations on Utah’s lush green lawns remained largely off-limits, as interest groups stalled or rewrote bills targeting grass.
Recent Posts
Israel And “The Big Lie”
October 27, 2025
Take Action Now The Global Nonviolent Action Database details some 40 cases of mass movements overcoming tyrants through strategic nonviolent…
The Business of Killing
October 27, 2025
Take Action Now Newly Released Data Reveals Air Force Suicide Crisis After Years of ConcealmentBy Austin Campbell, The Intercept Staff Sgt. Quinte…
Can Nonviolent Struggle Defeat a Dictator? This Database Emphatically Says Yes
October 26, 2025
Take Action Now The Global Nonviolent Action Database details some 40 cases of mass movements overcoming tyrants through strategic nonviolent…
CNBC Host Doesn’t Know How to Fix Runaway Healthcare Costs. Ro Khanna Says: Medicare for All
October 25, 2025
Take Action Now As health insurance companies rake in billions in profits, the California Democrat argues that a single-payer system would help US…




