The Antelope Island marina of the Great Salt Lake on Friday, July 22. The lake continues to fall to record lows. This month’s monsoonal storms have done little to improve drought conditions. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
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SALT LAKE CITY — This month’s monsoonal storms have helped improve Utah’s soil moisture conditions, but they’ve done little to improve drought conditions, state water officials said Friday.
Utah’s soil moisture levels are “trending slightly above normal” for the end of July, according to a weekly drought report compiled by the Utah Division of Water Resources.
National Water and Climate Center data shows that eastern and southern parts of the state, where most of the monsoonal storms have been concentrated, have the best moisture levels right now. They are the driest in central and northwest Utah, though every region in the state is currently over 80% of normal, per the data.
The Division of Water Resources adds the moisture hasn’t reversed any drought trends but has helped from the situation getting any worse. This is why the US Drought Monitor lists nearly 84% in at least extreme drought; Utah has remained around that percentage for more than a month. Overall, 99% of the state remains in at least severe drought, which has been the case for the past three months.
“We’re better than we were last year, so that’s the positive news. But better is a very low bar,” said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, when asked about the current drought situation Friday.
Nearly 99% of the state was listed in at least extreme drought by the end of July last year, including over half of Utah in “exceptional” drought. Only about 8% of Utah is listed in “exceptional” drought at the moment.
This map shows drought conditions across Utah as of Tuesday. Nearly 84% of Utah is listed in at least extreme drought. (Photo: US Drought Monitor)
Joel Ferry, the acting executive director of the Department of Natural Resources, explained that some of the benefits of the monsoons have been negated by extreme heat. For example, Salt Lake City set a new record on Thursday by hitting 100 degrees for the 16th time in July. Two more 100-degree days over the weekend moved the new record up to 18 days.
Other parts of the state have experienced similarly high temperatures between monsoonal storms this summer.
“Despite recent monsoons that have brought much-needed rain to some areas of the state, hot, bone dry conditions continue to bake our parched vegetation,” Ferry said in a statement Friday. “With temperatures in the triple digits and high winds, it doesn’t take much to spark a destructive wildfire. We need people to use good fire sense and help stretch our water supply.”
Utah’s reservoirs are currently at 53% capacity, according to the Utah Department of Water Resources. The figure excludes Flaming Gorge and Lake Powell because they don’t contribute as much to Utah’s water supply, the agency notes.
Nearly half of the state’s 45 largest reservoirs are currently listed at below 55% capacity. There are five streams also at record low flows at the moment.
Meanwhile, the Great Salt Lake’s elevation has fallen to 4,189.8 feet — down another 0.3 feet since it reached a new all-time low in the first week of July.
Utah water officials are still asking residents to reduce as much water consumption as possible. Tips on how to do that can be found at SlowtheFlow.org.
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Carter Williams is an award-winning reporter who covers general news, outdoors, history and sports for KSL.com. He previously worked for the Deseret News. He is a Utah transplant by the way of Rochester, New York.
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