FEATURE Grit: An Element of Resiliency. Reflections of a Water Planner
Candice Hasenyager
THE DESERT AIR BRUSHES OVER MY HAND as the car speeds along the highway and my sisters chatter in the background. My mind wanders to far-off times when my kids will be much older. So many questions arise. Will the population of Utah have doubled as it is predicted? Can my future grandkids ski in the winter? What occurred that we didn’t anticipate? What are the costs to our decisions? How will an unforeseen future unfold? Does the work we do today make a difference for them? This line of thinking is part and parcel to being a water planner for the State of Utah. Planning 50 years into the future is an uncertain business. You can’t be in the water planning profession and not have the word resiliency haunt you from one day to the next. I have been intrigued by this notion that there is some way to intentionally create resiliency in our water future. Resiliency in its most basic definition is the capacity to absorb and recover quickly from difficulties. Maybe an element of courage or grit if you prefer John Wayne movies. Intentionally creating resiliency is a bit of a daunting task for water planners and suppliers. There are many variables that are difficult to anticipate, account for and the way they may change is hard to predict. Striving to create this elusive resiliency, we are seeking to be vigilant, flexible, and open to new perspectives. Vigilance . Being vigilant requires us to be watchful of the accuracy of our assumptions and a significant amount of planning. In Utah, there have been many ongoings that are improving our planning efforts. In 2013, Governor Herbert gathered water experts to collect input from the public and to make recommendations for water policy-makers. He also announced the creation of the State Water Strategy Advisory Team (Advisory Team). The Advisory Team developed a 50-year water strategy for the future management of Utah’s water resources called the Recommended State Water Strategy (Water Strategy). The Advisory Team included members of Utah’s legislature, state and local water managers, environmental groups, and other stakeholders. A Legislative Audit was performed in 2015 on the water use data that the state collects. It was found that the state did not have reliable water use data on which to base its conservation progress calculations and future demand projections. The audit recommended improvements to data collection processes, including utilization of a consultant to evaluate the state’s data and processes. A Third-party Analysis was conducted of the processes and methodologies and they made data collection recommendations that have been implemented. Our water use
(Photo credit: Trisha Hussey
data continues to improve which is essential for good planning. This data is now available on an open data site (water.utah. gov/opendata) and updated annually. We are also working on several planning projects including the development of Regional Water Conservation Goals, updating the Drought Response and Recovery Plan and a new State Water Plan that incorporates the Water Strategy effort. Flexibility . Creating flexibility in our systems is being done in several ways. A scenario-based water demand model has been developed to incorporate the many variables that affect our municipal and industrial water supply and demand. This model includes a range of population projections, various water use categories, persons per household, lot size, green space, and evapotranspiration—to name a few. Various scenarios are being incorporated into the new State Water Plan to understand the sensitivity and range of our water future. To allow for more flexibility in our water rights, a diverse group of stakeholders are working to study innovative ways of water
8 | VOLUME 21 • NUMBER 5
Water Resources IMPACT
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