By City Journals staff

With the drought affecting cities statewide, Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs recently released a press release urging residents to conserve water this summer. 

“With our entire state experiencing a drought this year, I am encouraging Riverton residents to do what they can to conserve water,” Staggs in the press release. “I believe we all need to be more water conscious and work to conserve both in the household and in our irrigation practices. Changing our habits to make conservation part of our everyday lives will help us ensure we always have enough of this vital resource.”

The call for residents to play their part comes after Gov. Spencer Cox issued a declaration of emergency due to drought conditions. Various other cities have advocated for water conservation. 

Murray passed a resolution encouraging residents to water “one less time per week,” not “between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.” and to mow lawns to a higher length. While Cottonwood Heights even closed its popular splash pad for the summer. 

Riverton City operates both culinary and secondary (pressurized irrigation) water systems. Culinary water is purchased wholesale from the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District. The city is unique in that every residential address has secondary water access available for a flat monthly rate based on lot size; a cost-saving service that most cities cannot or do not provide, according to the press release. The city’s secondary water system gets its water from water shares in several local canals that distribute water from Utah Lake.

“If drought conditions ultimately worsen, it’s possible that supply of water will not meet demand,” said Trace Robinson, public works director for Riverton City. “We would hate for that to ever happen, which is why we are urging folks to start conserving now and begin adopting best practices to limit water usage in the future.”

There is not currently a shortage of supply for culinary or pressurized irrigation water for residents.

Riverton officials encouraged residents to follow water conservation practices such as purchasing a smart controller for your irrigation system, adjust sprinklers to avoid watering sidewalks and driveways where possible, considering changing landscape to localscape, participating in the Flip Your Strip program, clean sidewalks and driveways with a broom, reduce shower time, run washing machines only with a full load, and replacing toilets made prior to 1994. 

Riverton City is currently in the process of installing an advanced metering infrastructure system. Once installed and activated, the system will provide city utility customers real-time access to culinary water usage, the ability to detect leaks or irregularities in usage, and the ability to see and measure usage over time.