Other that reducing water usage, 2 items that would help restore Great Salt Lake Water Levels to reasonable heights include, one, reducing the evaporation of Utah Lake, which loses 1/2 of its water that way.
Reducing evaporation for Utah Lake, which could supply much of the west bench of SLco with water, is not an easy solution.
The other item is removing a regulation of the state to Retain a certain amount of rain water during site plan storm water design for projects over an acre. This would cost almost nothing and may reduce the costs of construction.
The state for at least many areas and for many years has required a certain amount of Detention, to act as a shock absorber to reduce flooding, but it has been recent, the last couple of years, that Retention has been required, even when the infrastructure is available to handle the storm water with reduced speed.
Detain, slow down, hold temporarily.
Retain, hold and not release at all.
In some locations, there is not a storm water drain system and no release is available, but when it is, it should be used. Slowing the flow is one thing, but eliminating some of the flow through retention can create problems and it complicates and can increase the cost of site development.
Some argue that Retention helps clean water, but actually Detention can do the same thing. In some cases, putting water into the ground can help and that can be handled locally, but this is not a good idea to have a one size fits all regulation. I spoke to an engineer from West Valley on Friday, and he hates the current requirement. Several Civil Engineers I have spoken to believe the general requirement is a mistake.
the document that mandates storm water retention when releasing into any municipal system.
https://documents.deq.utah.gov/water-quality/stormwater/updes/DWQ-2020-005275.pdf
https://documents.deq.utah.gov/water-quality/stormwater/updes/DWQ-2020-005275.pdf
Look in section 4.2.5.1.2
Please change the rules or create a law to supersede the rules.
