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Water:
State Facility Water Conservation Program
Our Position: support
Bill Number: hb137
Sponsor: Rep Larry Wiley (D-West Valley City)
Legislative Session: 2008 General Session
We live in the second driest state in the nation, but our water use is pretty profligate. Our lawns, golf courses and other heavy use puts us near the top in per capita usage. This bill would help promote water conservation in two ways. First, it will help the state set a good example for individuals and institutions. And given that the state itself is one of the biggest water users, these conservation measures are an important first step in reducing overall consumption.
Status
3/11/08: never made it passed the senate.
Action Needed
On Feb 25th, this bill was 30th on the Senate 2nd Reading Calendar. We are late in the session, and many bills get purged by the rules committees at this point to leave clearer sailing for leadership bills. Calls to your senator are important to make sure this bill doesn't suffer that fate and gets a vote this session. The House Government Operations Committee approved HB 137 by a vote of 9-0-3 on February 1st. Unfortunately, the full house voted by 31-40-4 against this bill on February 12th. This vote followed a venomous, ad hominem note distributed by Rep Mike Noel on the house floor only to Republican representatives. To their credit, 11 Republicans went ahead to vote for the bill anyway. Not a single representative from Utah County voted for water conservation. Talk about mood swings! After defeating the bill on February 12th in the fashion described above, the house accepted a motion from Rep Noel to reconsider and, without making any change to the bill, passed it without dissent on February 14th. The vote was 68-0-7. Would anyone like to take a crack at explaining that? HB 137 was reported favorably to the full senate by the Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee on 20 February on a vote of 5-0-2. Get calls in to your senators to support the bill.
More information
Read the amended text of HB 137 here.
Contact
To get the e-mail and phone contact information for your representative or senator, check out the district maps.
Background
Background on the bill from the Utah Rivers Council: Under this bill, Division of Water Resources (DWR) will identify opportunities and implement measures to reduce unnecessary water use at existing state facilities. For example, it will identify where an evapo-transpiration controller would reduce outdoor water use, and then implement that device at that facility. Aside from structural improvements, DWR will also identify how existing facilities can conserve water through changes in operations. It will create voluntary guidelines based on this research. Finally, DFCM will create guidelines so that all new state facilities will be designed and constructed to be water-wise from the beginning. DWR and DFCM will administer these programs cooperatively, but because DWR is the leading expert in water conservation, it will take the lead. The proposed legislation has a $500,000 fiscal note attached to it. Water conservation has been identified by DWR as a critical component in addressing Utah’s water supply in the future. Yet, there is no funding to this end. Conversely, $8 million was allocated to Lake Powell Pipeline and Bear River Water Development projects this past year alone. It is unfair to ask Utah residents to bear the burden of water conservation single-handedly. This bill represents an opportunity for the state to lead by example in achieving meaningful water conservation.
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