Salt Lake City is introducing a new conservation program developed in conjunction with the Utah State University (USU) WaterMAPS™ team. The initiative is designed to help residents within the Salt Lake City water service area identify opportunities to conserve water through individualized property reports.
The WaterMAPS™ software uses analytic data, including parcel, land cover, water meter, and weather data, to calculate a Landscape Irrigation Ratio (LIR). This ratio compares how much water is used on a landscape to how much the landscape actually needs. An LIR of 1 indicates water use is close to the landscape's actual needs, while an LIR of 2 indicates usage is approximately twice the requirement.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Utah Division of Water Resources, up to 60% of residential water use is applied to outdoor landscapes. Salt Lake City officials stated that water conservation is a primary way to extend water supplies and address declining water levels in the Great Salt Lake.
The individualized reports allow residents to view their property address, land cover characterization, and annual LIRs for the years 2018 through 2022. Residents can interactively investigate monthly LIRs for those years to see potential water savings in gallons.
Currently, the program is available for residential water users with accounts within the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities service area. The city plans to expand the program to include commercial and institutional properties in the future.
The program aims to help residents avoid overwatering by matching water usage to actual landscape needs. Residents can access their WaterMAPS™ reports by logging into their account on the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities payment page.
