Alan Matheson has proven his commitment to environmental practices as Envision Utah’s executive director. He left his post in 2011 to serve as the Governor’s Senior Environmental Adviser. As executive director with Envision Utah, Matheson helped to research effective developmental designs and solutions for Utah – all with Utah’s environmental future in mind. Utah’s population continues to grow, and certain measures must be taken to manage the environmental impact of growth in the healthiest way possible.
Previously, Alan served as the founding director of Trout
Unlimited's Utah Water Project. He was also a partner in a Phoenix law firm,
where he specialized in natural resource and water law, and was senior attorney
and environmental policy advisor for Arizona's largest electric utility.
Matheson earned a bachelor's in international relations from Stanford
University and a law degree from UCLA School of Law, where he was an editor of
the UCLA Law Review.
Summary of Alan Matheson's Presentation
- Water - the defining issue of the 21st Century; foundation for a sound economy and healthy society. The best communities at water management will succeed where others fail.
- Realities: 1) Utah is the 2nd driest state and is in a region subject to drought; 2) Utah is one of the fastest-growing states in the country, competing regionally for a limited water supply.
- $15 billion is needed in the coming years to maintain the current water system & expand it to accommodate growth. State government will have an important role in this.
- March 2013: Governor Herbert kicked off a new water planning project. Watch for a state water conference in Provo, October 2013. Some issues to be addressed in the plan include competing water uses and a growing population
- What will be the impacts on the water supply for agriculture? For the natural world (wildlife, etc.)?
Principles we should consider:
- Conservation - stretching the supply we have (Governor's goal: 25% reduction in per capita water usage by 2025 (formerly a 2050 goal)
- Augment the supply, e.g., reuse wastewater, add aquifer storage capacity, enlarge reservoirs
- Voluntary water banks to divert the supply during droughts to most critical activities
- Interconnected, more efficient, redundant water systems
- Embrace innovation for smarter water use
- Smaller residential lots
- We need technological advances, but less spectacular changes are also needed
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