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Utah Division Of Water Resources Travels The State To Talk About Water Conservation

People at an open house in front of posters: The Utah Division of Water Resources held an open house in Logan Tuesday night — one of many that have been held all over the state.
Lauren Bennett
The Utah Division of Water Resources held an open house in Logan Tuesday night — one of many that have been held all over the state.";

Officials from Utah’s Division of Water Resources met with Cache Valley residents Tuesday night in an effort to continue educating Utah citizens about water conservation. The open house comes a day after Governor Gary Herbert declared Utah in a state of emergency due to drought.

The open house is one of many that have been held over the state.

“This is an open house that is introducing the public to our regional conservation goal planning process," said Rachel Shilton, the manager over the planning section for the Division of Water Resources. "I want to congratulate Utah on how aware they are and how interested they are in taking care of our natural systems and really protecting and preserving the lifestyle we enjoy.”

The state is divided into regions, and each region will be visited by Utah’s Division of Water Resources to get public input about which water goals are best for each region.

“Water is especially critical as we are running into climate change and our population grows —so it’s important we conserve water," said Charles Holmgren, vice chair for the board of water resources. "There are ideas coming up that we need to be educated about to find new ways to conserve water better and be more efficient with it. ”

Shilton said it’s time Utahns take water conservation into their own hands.

“I really encourage us to take the next step – to look at our personal habits, not saying ‘My neighbor wastes water,’ but what can I do, what example can I set, what message can I give my friends? Without shaming, without blaming, but just saying ‘I want to take this more positive step,’” she said.

She suggests that people change their perspective on water conservation.

“You wouldn’t waste money, you wouldn’t throw money away so why don’t we treat water that way?”

Both Shilton and Holmgren said it’s important people understand why we need to conserve water.

“We have a very easily accessed water supply. But it’s finite – and we treat it like it is infinite. And it’s not.”

The DWR has a surveyfor people to provide feedback to the office about what water efficiency goals are best for their area. The survey is available until Oct. 19.