RIVERDALE, Utah — A city in Weber County is asking residents to reduce the amount of water they use outside, before it’s too late. The Weber Basin Water Conservancy District is reducing the amount of water allocated to Riverdale by 20 percent.
So, city officials are asking people to reduce their individual consumption by 20 percent, also including businesses and city properties.
Riverdale Mayor Braden Mitchell said they are one of the first cities to impose water restrictions.
"Riverdale residents have access to their water all year long, and so we have to kind of get ahead of it and let them know, we can’t have you watering early in the year,” he explained. “We don’t have secondary water, so there’s no way for Weber Basin to shut our water off."
But, some residents said they want the city to step up, before residents must cut back on their usage.
"Since the 30 years that I’ve been here, there have been no real appreciable restrictions like we're seeing now,” said Tim Lessard who lives in Riverdale.
He and Jordan Smith said they want to see more transparency from the city.
"I think it’s fair for residents to have transparency about why the wells have not been fixed, how much additional water could be ready for use in the city,” Smith said.
He said city reports show Riverdale also has an adequately full aquifer and loses about a fifth of water in delivery. They would like to see infrastructure improvements as well as more citizen input before restrictions are imposed. Lessard said residents have already significantly reduced water consumption, and this further reduction can be difficult. "We're already doing the 20 percent, now we're being asked to reduce 20 percent more,” he added.
The mayor acknowledged that challenge.
"It's a little bit tough because Riverdale has always been very low on our usage because we've been metered and we pay for our water by the gallon,” Mayor Mitchell said. “So, when we ask some people to cut back 20 percent, it’s kind of tough because they’ve already been cutting back for years and years.”
This splashpad will also be off on Thursdays to help save water. No watering outside is allowed between May 1 and October 15, and water rates go up 25 percent for usage over 10,000 gallons.
"We're being forced to do something we shouldn’t have to do,” Lessard added. “We're also being penalized monetarily if we exceed their allotment."
Mayor Mitchell said the city will work with businesses, using code enforcement to ensure they don’t overwater either. He does not want to inconvenience residents too much either. "And I would encourage people to feel free to still have a garden, that was never the intent of this to discourage people from having gardens.”
Smith said he’s worried about what could happen in the future.
"What’s it going to be next year or in the future if we have a down winter or a drier year than normal?"
