HB 328 Utah House · 2025 General Session

Water Usage Amendments

HB 328 restricts overhead spray irrigation (above-ground sprinklers) in new and redevelopment projects within Utah's Great Salt Lake drainage area. The bill prohibits this irrigation method in most landscaped areas unless the project includes outdoor activity areas (like sports fields or parks) or existing undisturbed areas with pre-2024 irrigation. Municipalities must require compliance as part of land use approvals and include a notice about the prohibition in permits. Exclusions cover agricultural land, single-family homes, schools, and government properties, with the law taking effect January 1, 2026.
Bill status failed 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Jan 27, 2025 Last action Mar 8, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Amended Excerpts 2/18/2025 10:02:142 Amended 2/18/2025 10:02:142 · 6 edits
MODERATE
This bill amends Utah's water usage regulations to prohibit overhead spray irrigation for new development and redevelopment projects in the Great Salt Lake drainage area, with specific exemptions for outdoor activity areas and undisturbed existing irrigation. The changes establish clear definitions for key terms and require municipalities to enforce these restrictions as part of land use approvals.
Scope change
The bill applies to new development and redevelopment projects in the Great Salt Lake drainage area, excluding agricultural land, single-family residential dwellings, and certain government properties.
DEFINITION

Added comprehensive definitions for terms including 'active use', 'agricultural land', 'common interest community', 'Great Salt Lake drainage', 'landscaped area', 'land use application', 'land use permit', 'new development', 'outdoor activity area', 'overhead spray irrigation', 'park strip', 'redevelopment', 'specified land', 'undisturbed area', and more.

REQUIREMENT

Requires municipalities to mandate compliance with overhead spray irrigation prohibitions as a condition of land use application approval or permit issuance.

Requires municipalities to include a specific notice on land use approvals stating the prohibition on overhead spray irrigation except in outdoor activity areas or undisturbed areas.

SCOPE

Establishes that overhead spray irrigation is prohibited for new development and redevelopment of specified land within the Great Salt Lake drainage area.

EXCEPTIONS

Creates exemptions for outdoor activity areas (sports fields, parks, cemeteries, etc.) and undisturbed areas where irrigation was installed at least two years before development.

Excludes agricultural land, single-family detached residential dwellings, local entity property, school property, state government grounds, and highway construction landscaping from the prohibition.

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
16
Key actions
2
Committee
2
Amendments
2
Feb 18, 2025
Lower · Passed
House/ comm rpt/ amended
lower
Feb 14, 2025
Lower · Passed
House Comm - Favorable Recommendation
lower
Feb 14, 2025
Introduced
House Comm - Amendment Recommendation
lower
Feb 6, 2025
Committee
House/ to standing committee
lower
Jan 27, 2025
Introduced
House/ 1st reading (Introduced)
lower
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor

Sponsors