I have to start off by maybe making many of you aware of the backstory behind the title of today’s blog post – it comes from a ditty sung to a TV ad in the 60s for Olympia Beer.  It was so pervasive, it came to mind when I was thinking about what water-related tone I could use for the title of today’s post.  Some things never fade away.

As we are all painfully aware, water is becoming a bigger issue by the week in our fair state, especially for future growth.  We have plenty of new residents showing up in our communities every month, who all need housing and community services.  Do we have enough water for them?

As much as I’ve been calling this the Year of the Planner because of all the land use and planning requirements that were put in place this year by the state legislature, it could also be called the Year We Had to Figure Out Our Water Situation.  A bill was passed by the legislature that added a required new element for city and county general plans on water use and preservation (SB110 – Water As Part of General Plans), which must be prepared and adopted by the end of 2025, as well as several other water planning requirements at the district and state levels.  The legislature also appropriated $300,000 to assist local governments with these newly required plan elements on water.

The growing importance of this issue is amply demonstrated by all the attention and assistance that is being generated.  National APA just published a piece in the latest issue of Planning magazine showcasing a number of resources they have collected to assist in water planning efforts – Integrating Land Use and Water Planning for a Sustainable Future.  The story includes links to pertinent sites like Incorporating Water into Comprehensive Planning from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Additionally, the state Division of Water Resources working with the Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy and Western Resource Advocates are sponsoring a Utah Growing Water Smart workshop this November.  Local governments can apply to be part of that workshop here – applications are due by July 29.

And don’t forget, the Utah Land Use Institute will have water and land use planning as the focus of the Tuesday afternoon plenary session for the annual Utah Land Use Conference on October 25.  The APA Utah fall conference will also include sessions on this file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/APA-fall-agenda-2c%20(4).pdf

Now get swimming!