The 2026 Legislative Session is critical for Great Salt Lake. In order to deliver on Governor Cox’s historic pledge to restore Great Salt Lake to healthy levels by the 2034 Winter Olympics, Utah lawmakers need to pass major water reforms this session, and back them with robust, sustained funding. Great Salt Lake remains on the brink of collapse, and will likely reach a new record low later this fall . The decisions we make over the next 4 weeks will shape our state for decades to come.
We are already tracking nearly two dozen bills—the majority of which will support Great Salt Lake—and now they need your backing to ensure these bills become law.
Stay engaged this legislative session. Your voice matters now more than ever!
This Legislative Session, Grow the Flow is focused on three key priority areas:
- Water market reform to make leasing water rights from agriculture and municipalities as seamless as possible. Leasing is currently the best tool available to get water to the lake now, but it is riddled in unnecessary roadblocks slowing down the program’s success exponentially.
- Municipal regulation and turf removal focused on ensuring new development in the Great Salt Lake Basin prioritizes water conservation, while existing property owners receive the incentives necessary to reduce the cost of removing grass lawns with water efficient landscaping.
- Robust and sustained funding to support water leasing, turf removal, infrastructure improvement, invasive species mitigation, and improved monitoring.
Below is a list of important legislation that we are watching this session:
Support – High Priority
Reach out to your elected officials in support of these bills!
HB 348: Dedicated Water Amendments (Rep. Jill Koford)
Clarifies and strengthens the “dedicated water” process and related instream flow steps, with additional reporting/accountability tools. (Status: House 1st Reading)
- Background: To lease or donate water to Great Salt Lake, a Utah water rights holder must file a change application with the State Engineer to convert their right to an instream flow, which allows the water to remain in the river system instead of being diverted for a consumptive use. Currently, this process requires time-intensive permitting and costly legal hours making leasing or selling water to Great Salt Lake inaccessible to the average water user.
- What HB 348 Does: HB 348 creates a new type of application—a Dedicated Water Application—that allows a water rights holder to dedicate some of their water to 1) an instream flow 2) sovereign lands or 3) certain reservoir deliveries without permanently changing their underlying water right. Importantly, this bill directs the State Engineer to prioritize processing these applications and authorizes the state engineer to require reporting in order to track and verify dedicated water. There are guardrails to limit how often the same agricultural field can be removed from a full-irrigation season.
- Why it’s Important: This bill creates a more flexible, streamlined pathway for voluntary water donations (including temporary, fixed-time, or split-season leasing). It helps improve one of Utah’s biggest structural bottlenecks in restoring water to Great Salt Lake.
HB 410: Water Leasing Amendments (Rep. Jill Koford)
Creates GSL Preservation Program and appropriates $5M in FY2027 to run. (Status: House 1st Reading)
- Background: Currently, leasing water to Great Salt Lake is difficult to scale. Most leases require a time-intensive, case-by-case approval process. Even when leases are approved, there are also concerns about whether that donated water will make it to Great Salt Lake. These barriers make leasing inaccessible or unattractive for many water users.
- What HB 410 Does: HB 410 creates a new Great Salt Lake Preservation Program, associated board, and a $5M appropriation that would provide a standardized, state-run pathway to lease water for the benefit of Great Salt Lake. The program would set lease rates, accept and rank applications, award leases, streamline applications, and require measuring, monitoring, and reporting.
- Why It’s important: This program makes it easier to lease water at scale, and ensure leased water is tracked and delivered to Great Salt Lake. It also allows for private donation of funds, providing an impactful avenue for philanthropy to support water leasing efforts.
HB 328: Water Usage Modifications (Rep. Clinton Okerlund)
Restricts overhead irrigation for certain new development/redevelopment (with exceptions), helping reduce outdoor water waste. (Status: House 1st Reading)
- Background: One of the biggest sources of avoidable outdoor urban water waste is overhead spray irrigation (like sprinklers) used on turf that isn’t meant for active use (like strips of grass, parking lot islands, or fenced off areas).
- What HB 328 Does: HB 328 restricts the use of overhead spray irrigation on nonfunctional turf for certain new development and major redevelopment projects within the Great Salt Lake drainage. Starting January 1, 2027, owners of specified properties (like commercial, institutional, mixed-use, multifamily projects, and common area landscaping in HOAs) generally cannot install or use overhead sprinklers to irrigate turf that is primarily decorative rather than actively used. Single-family homes, agricultural land, schools, state/local government grounds, and certain other categories are exempt.
- Why It’s Important: This bill helps reduce long-term water waste and makes sure future growth is water-smart.
HB 155: Water Rates Amendments (Rep. Doug Owens)
Requires utilities to create three tiers for residential water pricing, which awards low water use and creates a market signal for excessive outdoor use by increasing the price per gallon. (Status: House 1st Reading)
- Background: The vast majority of Utah’s urban water usage—96% of all depletions— comes from outdoor watering for lawns and landscaping. One of the easiest ways cities can reduce waste is through water pricing that rewards efficient use and makes very high water consumption more expensive. Some cities already use tiered rates, but the structure and conservation incentives aren’t consistent across the state.
- What HB 155 Does: HB 155 strengthens Utah’s rules for how water providers set residential water rates by requiring tiered pricing, also called “block rates.” By July 1, 2027, retail water providers that supply outdoor water must have at least three tiers for residential customers: normal indoor use, reasonable indoor and outdoor use, and excessive use. This bill incentivizes those who use the most water to cut back by requiring rates to reflect “a clear price signal or financial incentive to a customer to consider reducing” water use.
- Why It’s Important: According to the 2026 GSL Strike Team Report,Municipal & Industrial use accounts for 26.3% of the diverted water in the Great Salt Lake Basin, a higher percentage than previously estimated. Cutting back on urban outdoor water usage is key to restoring Great Salt Lake.
Oppose – High Priority
Reach out to your elected officials in opposition to this bill.
HB 60: Water Rights Amendments (Rep. David Shallenberger)
Changes how the State Engineer evaluates water-rights applications and protests. We oppose because it reduces meaningful public oversight, limits public participation, and narrows safeguards for Great Salt Lake related to public welfare. (Status: House 2nd Reading).
- Background: Under current law, the State Engineer reviews permits for new water rights (applications to appropriate water) and changes to existing water rights (change applications). The State Engineer can deny a water right or change application if it is detrimental to the public welfare—which allows the State Engineer to consider impacts like public safety, public access, large community impacts, harm to the public’s environment, or conflicts with bigger public priorities. Even if a proposal does not directly impair another person’s water rights, it still might cause broader harm—like shrinking wetlands, more dust exposure, and public health risks. Under current law, anyone can file protests and raise concerns about a water right or change application.
-
What HB 60 Does:
-
Narrows “Public Welfare”: Limits what the State Engineer can consider as “public welfare” to beneficial use and quantity, quality, or availability of water, reducing the State Engineer’s ability to consider broader community harms like public health, environmental collapse, or downstream consequences.
- In Practice: While the State Engineer may not rely on the public welfare standard frequently in practice today, we oppose narrowing a safeguard that communities should be able to rely on as Utah’s water challenges grow.
-
Limits Protests: Directs the State Engineer to only consider protests to the extent that they match the legal grounds the State Engineer may use to approve or deny an application.
- In Practice: This may streamline the process by narrowing protests to issues the State Engineer can act on, but it could also make it harder for the public—especially people without water rights—to raise broader public-interest concerns during the permitting process.
-
Makes Court Challenges Harder: Narrows who is considered an “aggrieved person” for the purposes of judicial review, limiting court challenges to those who have experienced a direct, personal harm.
- In Practice: Courts already require “standing” (a particularized injury) to sue. HB 60 further narrows this standard, which may reduce lawsuits from people with no direct stake in a water right decision—but could also limit public accountability when harm is cumulative and widely shared.
-
Narrows “Public Welfare”: Limits what the State Engineer can consider as “public welfare” to beneficial use and quantity, quality, or availability of water, reducing the State Engineer’s ability to consider broader community harms like public health, environmental collapse, or downstream consequences.
Other Bills We Support
HB 76: Data Center Water Policy Amendments (Rep. Jill Koford)
Requires large data centers to coordinate with water providers and report water-related information before construction and annually. (Status: House 2nd Reading)
HB 154: Water Loss Study Amendments (Rep. Doug Owens)
Directs the state to study water loss and report findings so Utah can reduce leaks and waste. (Status: House 1st Reading)
SB 130: River Restoration Amendments (Sen. Lincoln Fillmore)
Expands and coordinates Jordan River improvement work, creates matching grants to improve recreation access along the river, and requests $2M in one-time funds for Jordan River restoration efforts. (Status: Passed Senate, House 1st Reading)
HB 247: Great Salt Lake Funding Amendments (Rep. Raymond Ward)
Directs brine shrimp tax revenue into an account dedicated to Great Salt Lake benefits. (Status: House 1st Reading)
HB 93: Goshen Bay Waterfowl Management Area (Rep. Doug Welton)
Creates the Goshen Bay Waterfowl Management Area. (Status: House 2nd Reading)
HB 313: Landscaper Certification Amendments (Rep. John Arthur)
Requires licensed landscapers to complete continuing education that includes water-conservation topics (like drought-tolerant plants, soil water retention) and fire-mitigation techniques. (Status: House 1st Reading)
on the uploaded document.
0 archived comments