Water-conservation efforts have expanded greatly in recent years as water shortages have become more prevalent and impactful nationwide. Western states have been especially hard-hit by water shortages, and several organizations have taken major steps in their efforts to curtail water use in institutional and commercial facilities.
Most recently, the Utah Division of Water Resources and the Utah Division of Facilities Construction and Management (DFMC) recently created the State Facility Water Tracker. This new tool displays data related to water use specifically at state facilities. By visualizing this data, officials hope to help facilities occupants and in-house staff better understand water conservation efforts at these locations. Preliminary numbers show that Utah state facilities have achieved a 20 percent reduction in water use since 2020.
HB 121 (2022) sets water conservation requirements for state facilities. Any state government facility built or reconstructed on or after May 4, 2022, may not have more than 20 percent of the grounds be lawn or turf. Existing facilities must:
The Division of Water Resources and DFCM developed the tool to monitor the reduction in outdoor watering at individual state facilities and campuses and identify improvement areas.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.
