A terrifying assertion has come to the limelight recently concerning the men and women of Salt Lake City, Utah. While water conservation should always be a concern no matter where you may live, Utah residents are having to focus on saving water much more seriously now than ever before.
Utah Legislature has proposed the notion of actually changing the constitution of the state so that the rules will be readjusted. As it originally stands, the current law “prohibit[s] them from leasing their water rights to others” (The Salt Lake Tribune, 2018). Essentially, this means that Utah authorities want to make the option available to sell rights to water supplies. This poses a cause for concern for the local residents of Salt Lake City who support water conservation. The debate seems to be profits versus welfare. One side wants to sell the rights, which would greatly increase profitability, but the other side is only interested in saving water so that future residents are not facing a very real problem of not enough drinking water to sustain their own communities. If this framework of local water supplies were to collapse, thousands of homes would be without drinking water. This is a harsh reality that no one wants to have to consider being forced to deal with or try to find a solution to.
The goal that has been stated by forces in favor of leasing water supplies is to sell the surplus of water accumulations. Opposers like Mark Stratford say, “‘Neither the resolution or the substitute do anything to change the status quo,’ Stratford said. ‘Someone living outside the city would not be in a better or worse position. They keep us where we are’” (The Salt Lake Tribune, 2018). The concern is that even if the change may seem like it solves an immediate problem or provides some kind of instantaneous gratification, the long term affects are negative enough to render the entire project dangerous and rash. We need better leaders, teachers, congressman, bakers, fireman, businessmen, and landscapers in Utah to take to their industry to improve water use.
Many believe that the entire subject just creates too many potential issues, and they state that this is one of those times in life when the risk/ reward ratio is just not strong enough to make it worth pursuing. Local resident representatives like attorneys and real estate agents propose that the results could be catastrophic to communities: “David Fife, a Salt Lake-area residential real-estate appraiser, said… ‘This is an economic weapon of mass destruction, if this were fully understood’” (The Salt Lake Tribune, 2018).
We want to thank our friends at Klingler & Associates for helping us share this important news. They truly help spread ideas worth sharing and they do the best tax preparation in Utah. The more you know about the water conservation effort here in Salt Lake City, the better you can help.
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