Water Conservation Program
Climate: Drought, Desert, High Temperature Exposure
Southern Utah is in its worst drought in 1500 years. Cedar City, Utah is under huge stress to conserve water and correct mismanagement on its primary water source – an underground aquifer. Although there are 50,000 acre feet of water rights assigned to the aquifer, recent studies have shown that the aquifer can only safely support 21,000 acre feet of human use and still recharge properly. The study continued to show that the city is dangerously pulling more than 8,000 acre feet of water above what the aquifer could support in 2021. Local leaders will have to reduce water rights by roughly 58% over the next 30 years while facing growth projections of nearly 65%. If the city does not add another single resident, it still will not have enough water to support itself in 30 years.
The rest of Utah and many other states experience a growing and ongoing concern about water usage. For example, California’s governor recently announced that large portions of the state and cities will be restricted from using water for outdoor purposes in 2022 and in the future.
Bactelife piloted its first water conservation program involving 116 lawns with the intent of conserving water and improving soil. The average water savings per customer was 2,500 gallons of water per week. Because each customer waters differently, we were able to reduce water anywhere from 30-90%. We were able to maintain green lawns while cutting watering to two days a week. In August when temperatures were in the low 100’s and drought restrictions were at a peak, our 116 lawns saved roughly 1.18 million gallons of water (more than 3.6 acre feet of water). The region was considering paying more than $204,000.00 to save the same amount of water through a turf removal program. Customers were able to keep their lawns and support water conservation efforts.
