Bluffdale planners take up the city's 2026 water conservation plan Wednesday

BLUFFDALE — The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing Wednesday on an amendment to the Water Conservation Element of the city's General Plan, the document that carries Bluffdale's water-saving goals and the measures it intends to use to reach them 21.

The hearing is item 13 on a six-hearing agenda for the commission's Nov. 4 meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. at Bluffdale City Hall, 2222 W 14400 S 2. The application is 2026-34, with the City of Bluffdale as applicant and Daniel Tracer, assistant city engineer, as staff presenter 2. The notice tells residents they may comment at the meeting or email planningmeetingcomment@bluffdale.gov with "Water Conservation Plan" in the subject line before 4 p.m. on Nov. 4 1.

**What the plan says**

State law requires public water suppliers to prepare a water conservation plan and update it every five years; the 2026 report is an update of the city's 2021 plan 3. It describes the drinking water system, summarises consumption, assesses conservation alternatives and sets goals 3.

The regional goal for the Salt Lake area is an 11% cut from 2015 to 2030, from 210 to 187 gallons per capita per day 3. Bluffdale was at 171 gallons per person per day in 2015, so the plan sets the city's 2030 goal at 152, following the same 11% trajectory 3. The city's per-capita use fell from about 260 gallons a day in 2000 to under 160 by 2019, which the plan says is already below the regional goal 3.

The plan puts the 2025 population at 19,500, citing the Kem C. Gardner Institute, and the system at 5,543 connections, citing the Utah Division of Water Rights 3. Water purchased rose from 3,369.46 acre-feet in 2023 to 3,734.52 in 2024 and 3,903.70 in 2025 3.

**The supply arithmetic**

The plan's own projection is the part with a date on it. Assuming current trends continue, it says, the city will exceed the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District's available supplies around 2038 3. The district's allotment works out to 1.35 acre-feet of water per acre of undeveloped land, and a development needing more must supply water sources or pay a fee in lieu 3. The plan lists the city's options as dedicating additional water rights or canal shares, paying the fee in lieu, or developing its own sources, and notes the city holds canal shares for the East Jordan, South Jordan, Utah and Salt Lake Canal, and the Utah Lake Distributing Canal 3.

**What the city already does, and what it proposes**

The plan's existing-measures table runs from xeriscaping storm drain ponds and about 35 portable meters for construction water to a public conservation garden at Vintage Park and Main Park, leak alerts through the Neptune 360 programme, and reuse of cooling water from the Utah Data Center to irrigate Main Park 3.

Drinking water has been on a tiered rate since 2018: a $12 monthly residential base fee, $3.15 per 1,000 gallons up to 12,000 gallons, and $5.65 per 1,000 gallons above 100,001 under normal and moderate drought conditions 3. Secondary water is metered, the plan says, but has no tiered rate and is priced at $1.00 per 1,000 gallons 3.

Among the measures proposed for the future are tiered rates for pressurized irrigation, drinking-water tiers adjusted for lot or family size, a low-flow plumbing fixtures ordinance, turf reduction at city parks, expansion of the pressurized irrigation system, reuse of sewer effluent for irrigation, and a pipe replacement programme budgeted at perhaps 5% a year 3.

The plan also carries a drought ladder tied to the district's five drought levels, from normal to critical, with residential outdoor watering cut to twice a week under severe drought and outdoor irrigation ceasing under critical drought, alongside drought rate tiers up to $9.65 per 1,000 gallons 3.

**Who adopts it**

Tracer's memo to the commission asks that it "adopt the Quality Assurance Program as presented" 3. The plan itself says the city "shall devote part of at least one regular meeting every five years of its governing body to a discussion and formal adoption of the water conservation plan and allow public comment on it," with the minutes appended to the plan 3. The Nov. 4 item is listed as a public hearing, consideration and recommendation, which sends the amendment to the City Council 2.

The plan is dated November 2026 and is attached to the meeting packet as the exhibit for item 13 3. The same meeting takes up five other public hearings, including a development agreement for the Chapel Row project at 3515 W 13800 S and a text amendment allowing short-term rental of accessory dwelling units 2.