Castle Country Radio had the opportunity to speak over the telephone with Utah Division of Water Resources Drought Coordinator, Laura Haskell to talk about where we are water wise and ways to conserve water.

We are just starting the summer off but water levels are comparable to last year level’s. “We are about at the same place reservoir wise as we were this time last year. So that’s kind of good news, we haven’t lost any water so we’re starting off about the same as we were last year. If we can just keep up on what we did last year and have everyone be aware of their water use, hopefully we’ll be okay,” said Haskell. Last year statewide there were huge efforts in watching one’s water usage and that paid off in many areas of the state.

There are many tips and tricks that individuals can try around their homes to help conserve water. “I thought the shower would be the bigger user in the house, and it’s actually the toilet is the bigger user. So if you can there are rebates available if you have an older home with an older toilet you can get a rebate from the state to replace that. Or if that’s not something you can do right now, you can just simply get like a water bottle and fill it with water and put that in the water tank, you know out of the way of the mechanisms and so you won’t use as much water when you flush,” explained Haskell. This little trick will help save a significant amount of water every time the toilet is flushed.

Another big usage of water in some homes can be the dishwasher or washing machine.  “Just make sure you’re running a full load. You know wait until you got full load and then run it all at once because its going to use pretty much the same amount of water whether you have a few dishes in there or a whole load, be sure and do that. Little things like keeping a pitcher of water in the fridge so you don’t run the faucet every time you want a cold drink of water,” said Haskell. If everyone does their part in using these tips and tricks they will help conserve water across the board.

For more information and details about water conservation visit the Division of Water Resources website at https://water.utah.gov/