Protecting our water supply and helping save the Great Salt Lake

Preventing the demise of the Great Salt Lake is an existential crisis for residents of Salt Lake County, and — since before the Mayor Wilson has made it a priority to ensure the county government is conserving water where it can and helping others to conserve even more.

Opposing projects that threaten the water supply in our canyons

• Mayor Wilson has been a leading voice in opposing the Little Cottonwood Canyon gondola. She believes strongly that the gondola is a flawed choice from an operational perspective. She opposes the high cost and is extremely concerned about the impact on the county’s water supply, as well as the visual and environmental impacts to the canyon.
• Mayor Wilson has also vocally opposed the proposed new rock quarry in Parleys Canyon, which has already been delayed once because of its impact on the county’s fresh water supply.
• Mayor Wilson strongly supports the County’s Foothill & Canyons Overlay Zone ordinance which provides development restrictions on the unincorporated canyons within the county.

Replacing grass at public facilities

• The Wilson Administration has replaced the grass at three county playing fields with synthetic turf to reduce the demand for water.
• Mayor Wilson has led a multi-year “Flip the Strip” effort to reduce water use at publicly-owned facilities by replacing grass turf with xeriscaping. Not only has the county replaced 132 park strips at its own facilities, it has awarded grants to municipalities to help them replace their own. West Valley, Sandy, Taylorsville, West Jordan, South Jordan, Bluffdale, and Riverton have all received county grants to replace their turf and reduce water.

Reducing water using at county-owned facilities

Mayor Wilson has systematically reduced water usage at county facilities, like by upgrading the county’s fleet car wash to save 100,000 gallons of water per year. 

Protecting drinking water in Riverton

Salt Lake County made a significant investment in the Riverton City Green Well reverse-osmosis purification plan, which provides drinkable water to Riverton residents.  This investment allowed the county to move away from using drinkable water to water the Riverbend Golf Course — the last county-operated course still using drinkable water.