2026 | Bills of Interest

Authorizes municipalities to place a political subdivision lien on property for certain past due services.

Requires a community water system to complete an emergency response plan and report a security breach to the Utah Cyber Center within two hours of discovery.

Modifies the extent to which the State Engineer may consider a protest; addresses temporary applications; modifies approval and rejection criteria, including public welfare considerations, and clarifies who is an aggrieved person for judicial review.

Allows a court to appoint a receiver for a public water system to implement corrective or remedial action for Safe Drinking Water Act violations or compliance orders and require divestiture to ensure long-term compliance.

Directs land use authorities to issue notices; requires certain large data centers to communicate with water providers; requires reporting before construction and annually; addresses disclosure and enforcement.

Requires the Division of Water Resources to conduct a study regarding water loss and report the findings.

Provides for increasing block units for residential water use in certain water rate structures and addresses the purpose of increases in rates charged for additional blocks.

Exempts certain lower basin water conservancy district water rights from abandonment or forfeiture for nonuse and prohibits certain instream flow change applications related to the lower basin.

Requires DOPL to define landscape work, specify licensees who may engage in landscape work, and provide continuing education requirements.

Directs municipalities and counties to take certain land use regulation actions related to overhead irrigation and prohibits certain overhead irrigation in new development or redevelopment, with exceptions.

Addresses dedicated water applications, prohibits segregation of underlying water rights from dedicated water, addresses instream flow processes, agricultural land, reporting, and lapsing of dedicated water applications.

Authorizes use of the Water Infrastructure Restricted Account for loans related to dams and reservoirs; addresses rulemaking, project approval, and reporting.

Addresses provisions related to a prescriptive easement for water conveyance.

Directs municipalities or counties to adopt, maintain, and enforce certain water efficient landscaping requirements related to new development and addresses regional standards, reporting, and assistance.

Provides that the state engineer may grant a non-use application for a qualified entity’s water right; requires counties, municipalities, and special districts to adopt a written plan for determining reasonable future water requirements before imposing a water exaction.

Makes appropriations to the Great Salt Lake Preservation Program non-lapsing; addresses diversion or impoundment by intervening users, streamlined leasing, program creation, board duties, rulemaking, applications, enforcement, reporting, and sunset provisions.

Addresses fee exemptions, contract modifications for metering and usage-based billing, notices to secondary water suppliers, penalties, local contribution requirements for infrastructure funding, secondary water fee exemptions, and reporting modifications.

Requires land use authorities to consider groundwater issues in approving land use applications or permits and requires the Utah Geological Survey to provide information.

Modifies provisions related to ownership of geothermal resources or fluids and amends the powers of the Division of Water Rights related to confidentiality of information.

Imposes landscaping requirements related to state government facilities.

Creates the Office of Water Management within the Division of Water Resources; establishes office duties, the water manager role, project nomination processes, capital asset management planning, and legislative reporting requirements.

Requires an agency to ensure rules involving environmental health and waste management are supported by scientific studies and authorizes the Rules Review and General Oversight Committee to delay the effective date of certain rules.

Requires a state agency to take certain actions related to irrigation and use of low-water turf and directs the Division of Facilities Construction and Management to audit irrigation systems.