After a bad winter for snowpack, SLC Mayor Erin Mendenhall in March called for water rationing heading into the summer months. The mayor expects the city to experience a moderate drought, continuing an arid cycle that began in 2020.
According to the state’s Division of Water Resources, this past winter was both the warmest and lowest snowfall ever recorded, with Salt Lake receiving only 58% of its median snow-water equivalent. And in March, a water outlook report released by the Natural Resources Conservation Service attributed poor conditions to the record warmth and “dismal amounts of new snow” in December and January.
Typically, more than half of Salt Lake’s water supply depends on thawing snow. This means the valley will be heavily reliant on reservoir water, which is currently at 68% of capacity…