The Great Water Debate

The Great Water Debate

Growing up in Saint George I vividly remember my grandma and many other older residents having old milk jugs lined around the rain gutters of the house to collect rain water every time it rained. My grandma knew how precious every drop of rain water was long before water shortages were a common thing in Utah.

Water, Water, Nowhere

Here at Steve Regan Company we serve many people from both residential and agricultural backgrounds. With water shortages and drought constantly in the forefront, the debate over where all our water is used is constantly coming up. We’ve tried to compile the most accurate statistics we can find so everybody can see the information and there won’t be animosity from either side. Agriculture and residents are both important to Utah’s economy and it’s vital that we can all live together sustainably. 

Who Uses What

It is hard to see where all the water used in the state ends up. Below are some statistics about water usage in Utah that hopefully clears up some of the confusion about water used by agriculture versus residential areas.

Utah Water Statistics Numbers Source
Urban acreage in Utah: 597,760 Acres (Roughly 1.1% of total land) Gardner Institute
Household Water Usage: 242 gallons/day per person | 88,330 gal/year per person KSL
Number of people in Utah 3.5 million people use 847,000,000 gal per day (2,599 acre ft) & 309,155,000,000 gal per year (948,762 acre ft) Census
Household Yard Water Usage 67% of water use (207,133,850,000 gal per year) Washington Terrace
Acres of Farmland in Utah 10,500,000 Acres (Roughly 19.9% of total land)  USDA NASS
Acres of irrigated land 1,100,000 - 1,200,000 acres USU Extension
Water used by Agriculture 75% of state's total water usage Water Resource Plan
Water used by common crops About 2 - 6 acre ft per acre KSL
Water Use Per Household About 0.45 acre ft per year KSL

Water For All

So, do farms use more water than residents in Utah? It's complicated. Irrigated farmland does often use more water per acre, especially for water-intensive crops like alfalfa. However, if there is enough residential density per acre—about 13 homes per acre—then housing would actually use more water overall. Farms also provide benefits for pollinators and climate resilience that go far beyond just the crops produced.

While farms can use more water overall, the reality is more nuanced than headline statistics suggest. Because there is significantly more farmland in Utah than urban land (roughly 17.5 times as much) agriculture naturally accounts for a larger share of the state's total water consumption. This is a matter of scale, not necessarily inefficiency and farms using significantly more water per acre. With that said, farms absolutely should keep trying to conserve water. Farmers should use tools such as drip irrigation, soil moisture monitoring, and crop selection to reduce demand when possible.

Here at Steve Regan, we don't want to pit farmers against residents. We recognize that both groups have legitimate needs and responsibilities. People need places to live and they should be able to have comfortable landscaping and enough water for their homes. Farmers are stewards of the land and produce the food that sustains our communities. Next time you drive past a farm, consider the complexity behind those fields. Understanding water use helps us all make better decisions about conservation and living together in Utah's water-scarce environment.

 

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