In 2022, the Utah Legislature passed H.B. 242 which requires water meters be installed by 2030 on all new and existing pressurized secondary water systems. They also appropriated $250 million for grants to help operators of those systems comply with the requirement. The Legislature took this action based on documented success of water savings from metering secondary water. In 2023, an additional $18 million was appropriated for the Secondary Water Meters Program.

Utah has approximately 260,000 locations statewide that use secondary, untreated (nonpotable) water for irrigation of lawns, gardens, parks, and landscapes. In many areas, this secondary water is attached to urban properties that previously were agricultural land. In the land transition process, treated culinary water was provided for indoor use, but untreated irrigation water was provided through secondary systems for use on outdoor landscapes, primarily as a cost saving measure to the providers and users. In Utah, secondary water often comes from Bureau of Reclamation storage projects. Properties receiving secondary water have water allotments for the amount they can use and property owners are assessed fees for these allotments on their property bills. Approximately 85% of all locations with access to secondary water were unmetered in 2022.

The success of secondary metering as a water conservation strategy was originally demonstrated by Weber Basin Water Conservancy District (WBWCD), which has the largest contiguous secondary water system in the United States. Many areas with secondary water had piped and pressurized delivery systems for years, but the district’s challenge was finding the right technology to meter “raw” (untreated) water. When functional secondary water meters became available in 2009, WBWCD planned and implemented their first retrofit projects, installing approximately 1,100 meters between 2011-2013 in three neighborhoods where they retail secondary water. The aim of WBWCD was to determine if water use was within the property allocations, educate users on how water they were using in relation to the needs of their landscape, and eventually charge people for water use using a tiered water rate structure to incentivize conservation. By 2022, the district had metered approximately 14,000 locations and had documented reductions in use of approximately 20-30% compared to unmetered areas and compared to use when the secondary meters were first installed, according to Jon Parry, WBWCD’s Assistant General Manager for Strategic Initiatives.

The key to WBWCD’s conservation success in metering secondary systems is its approach to sharing meter information with users through secondary water use reports and near real time access to their water usage via the District’s Customer Portal. Developed in conjunction with the WaterMAPS™ program in the Center for Water Efficient Landscaping at Utah State University, the reports use a landscape water budgeting approach to show water users how much water they are applying to their landscapes in comparison to how much water their landscapes need. 

This information, individualized to each property, informs water users of their ability to reduce overuse or waste, which has been a powerful educational motivator for landscape water conservation. WBWCD provides these reports monthly from May-October to help users track the efficiency of their water use and conservation success

“We learned you can’t just meter the water, you have to educate the consumer, and we are seeing some significant water savings as a result,” said Darren Hess, WBWCD’s Assistant General Manager for Operations. He noted, “This is really the largest water supply project we have. Every gallon we save is another gallon that can be stored in our existing reservoirs for the next season, which helps with future uncertainty in water supply.” Saved secondary water has also helped WBWCD delay additional water supply projects and provide water for environmental f lows to Great Salt Lake. 

Other cities in Utah that implemented secondary metering prior to the recent legislation and availability of grant funding showed similar success in reducing water use. Saratoga Springs implemented secondary metering to address overwatering of landscapes serious enough to cause flooded basements and damage to homes, as well as to be fiscally responsible in avoiding costs of other more expensive water supply infrastructure. Saratoga Springs, Spanish Fork, and Santaquin have seen water savings of 25-50% through metering. They provided implementation advice to other communities undertaking metering in a spring 2022 Utah League of Cities and Towns training session.

WBWCD is realizing additional conservation programming benefits from secondary metering. Programs for indoor and outdoor water efficiency are somewhat distinct, and metering on dual systems helps them determine an appropriate amount for each type of use and refine the delivery and assessment of their water conservation programs. The secondary meters also enable WBWCD to monitor for leaks and use of seasonal allocations and alert customers, provide flexibility in implementing watering restrictions, and open up opportunities to f inancially incentivize customers to use less than their full allocations.  WBWCD is promoting low water landscape alternatives on new development throughout the District’s secondary retail service area, which would result in lesser allocation volumes being contracted and lower annual assessments for that water. In West Haven City, WBWCD is incentivizing developers to adopt low water landscapes by reducing the amount of water they have to turn over to be served through secondary systems. 

In response to its first call for applications, the Utah Board of Water Resources on August 4, 2022 approved $190 million in grants to about 70 water conservancy districts, irrigation companies, municipalities and other water users for up to 70% of the costs of secondary metering projects.