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
Trump And Musk Are Going To War Against The Welfare State
February 17, 2025
Take Action NowThe new administration is encouraging state experiments in lean and punitive social policy.By Colin Gordon, Dissent It is…
Organizers Ready Nationwide “Not My Presidents’ Day” Protests
February 17, 2025
Take Action Now“We the people will not live under a king,” said one progressive organizer. “We will not allow Trump and…
Trump and DOGE Want To Cut Waste? This Upcoming Test Launch of a Nuclear Missile Is All Waste – and Dangerous Folly
February 16, 2025
Take Action Now If President Trump and Elon Musk want to cut federal waste, they should listen to activists who’ve been targeting the land-based leg…
Leaked Documents Expose U.S. Interference Projects In Iran
February 15, 2025
Take Action Now Newly leaked documents expose Washington’s ongoing, covert push for regime change in Iran. With millions funneled into secretive…