Document Type

Report

Publisher

Utah State University

Publication Date

1-2026

First Page

1

Last Page

68

Abstract

This report focuses on water conservation and provisioning strategies that both Beaver and Iron Counties are pursuing to help meet their citizens’ current and future water needs and to contribute to statewide water conservation efforts. It primarily relies on publicly available data from state, county, conservancy district, and city databases, plans, and documents. The purposes of this document are to provide regional context for understanding water use in Beaver and Iron Counties and to describe water conservation strategies that can influence the trajectories of their future water use. 

In both Beaver and Iron Counties, agriculture remains the primary user of private land and water resources. Water is fully appropriated in Beaver and Iron Counties, with the exception of some groundwater in Wah Wah Valley, Pine Valley, and Hamlin Valley in Beaver County. Cedar City, the largest and fastest-growing city in Iron County, relies on the Cedar City Valley Aquifer as its primary water source and is subject to a groundwater management plan that will reduce the annual depletion of the aquifer from 28,000 AFY to the estimated safe yield of 21,000 AFY over a period of 45 years. Groundwater management plans are also in effect in Parowan Valley and Beryl Enterprise areas of Iron County. With the additional challenges of more severe droughts and increasing growth, both Beaver and Iron Counties must carefully manage limited water supplies. 

Municipal, secondary irrigation, and agricultural water conservation efforts are underway in Beaver and Iron Counties. Public water suppliers in Beaver and Iron Counties have improved water efficiency by installing meters, implementing leak detection programs, upgrading secondary systems for outdoor use, and carrying out artificial recharge projects to replenish aquifers and strengthen supplies. Each water supplier also encourages their customers to reduce water use through conservation education, tiered rate structures to discourage excessive use, financial incentives such as rebates, and ordinances that require specific water-saving practices. Both counties have secondary water systems for agricultural and residential outdoor irrigation, with half of those systems currently metered. Farmers and irrigation companies from Iron and Beaver Counties have implemented Agricultural Water Optimization projects to reduce consumptive water use in the agricultural sector. 

Recognizing their unique circumstance and capacities, Beaver and Iron Counties can pursue additional water conservation opportunities in three key areas: agricultural water optimization; water smart urban growth; and enhancement of conservation efforts in existing urban areas. This report provides resources and suggestions on how Beaver and Iron Counties can advance their actions in these three areas. Both counties should also prioritize reducing groundwater pumping to recover and sustain their aquifers. Of the water they do extract and put to use, they should concentrate on reducing depletion through conservation in agricultural water use, irrigation, and urban outdoor water uses. Seeking to live within the Beaver/Cedar water budget is a worthwhile goal for these conservation efforts and one that can be facilitated by cooperation through the new Beaver/Cedar Watershed Council.

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