Utah drought: Is the St. George area running out of water?
Utah’s Washington County is one of the fastest growing areas in the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, made possible by the Virgin River which supplies the region and its multiplying suburbs with water. But drought and population growth have long plagued the river, and the mayor of Ivins, a small, bedroom community of nearby St. George, did not mince words when addressing constituents this month. … Hart’s message came in the wake of an upscale community near Scottsdale, Arizona, having its water shut off on New Year’s Day. Similar to the St. George area, the fast-growing Scottsdale community received its drinking water from Arizona’s allotment of the Colorado River, and the shutoffs were in part due to shortages in the river’s basin, according to a memo sent to residents of the Rio Verde Foothills neighborhood.