Salt Lake City Now Officially Having Its Second-Wettest Spring On Record

WEST JORDAN, Utah — By mid-morning today, with another .30″ dose of rain, spring 2019 officially became the second wettest ever in Salt Lake City, as measured at the airport. The total for the meteorological spring is now 10.78″, less than an inch behind the 2011 spring total of 11.73″ of rain.

The entire state has soaked up the water the past three months. That’s good for our wallets, and plenty of plants that withered last year.

A year ago, Utah was in the midst of a drought, most people were already watering their lawns at least twice a week and Utah’s fifth-hottest July was just around the corner.

“We never know what Mother Nature is going to do. So, a wet spring means sales are down,” said Linda Townes, public information manager for Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District.

Water companies, like Jordan Valley Water, are making less money this spring, letting us keep our cash, for now. This April and May, their customers used 30-40% less water than last year, and there are still a few more days in the month.

They delivered 1.2 billion gallons less water this spring than last spring. That’s enough to fill an average bathtub two-and-a-half million times.

But, the water company will get it’s revenue.

“July is right around the corner,” said Townes. “So, in July we get lots of water use.”

Regardless, Jordan Valley is still reminding customers they do not need to water, yet.

“If you’re watering right now, you’re just throwing your money away,” she said. “You’re getting free water. Mother Nature is providing free water and you don’t need to use ours yet.”

The Weekly Online Watering Guide put out by the Utah Division of Water Resources concurs. According to that map, the only Utahns who need to irrigate this week are those in southern and southeastern counties in the state, and only once a week is necessary.

Plenty of conscientious customers of Jordan Valley Water have still seen water wasters this spring, and they often let the water company know.

“I’ve gotten complaints from people that so-and-so is watering, this company is watering, and it frustrates them,” said Townes.

“You shouldn’t be watering, yet,” said Shawn Moser.

Update: With another 0.30" of precipitation this morning, the Salt Lake City Airport is now up to 10.78" of rain for meteorological spring. Record highest is 11.73" in 2011. #utwx pic.twitter.com/tkrdGW9tH6

— NWS Salt Lake City (@NWSSaltLakeCity) May 28, 2019

He ought to know. He’s the conservation garden manager at Jordan Valley Water.

“In fact, in this garden we haven’t watered at all, yet,” Moser said.

He said a couple of simple tests will let you know when to water your lawn.

“If you step on it, and the grass springs up immediately, you know that it has plenty of water,” he said.

Or, take a screwdriver and see if you can stick it in the ground.

“As you can see, it slides in really nicely,” Moser said demonstrating the technique in a section of turf in the garden. “That means there’s just a ton of water in there, and we don’t need to be watering it with the sprinkler system.”

If you can’t stick the screwdriver into the soil…

“That means we’re pretty dry, and you probably need to water the lawn,” said Moser.

What’s suffering this spring with too much water?

The gardener said many vegetable gardens are getting plenty of water, but not enough sun to grow. That has stunted the growth of some vegetables.