October 2025 was Utah’s wettest on record, with almost five inches of precipitation. But the rain didn’t turn to snow.
In December, Utah recorded its warmest start to ski season since 1992 and the state’s snowpack later hit a record low.
Park City Public Utilities Director Clint McAfee said a lack of snow can be a problem for local reservoirs.
“We rely on our snowpack for our water storage to use in the summertime,” he said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” March 31. “When it falls as rain, it kind of just depletes sooner.”
However, McAfee said he’s not overly concerned about Park City’s water outlook. That’s because the water locals drink today isn’t directly tied to how much precipitation fell that year.
“Park City's water sources are primarily from the ground,” McAfee said. “Our groundwater aquifers act as a storage reservoir, and they tend to lag a year or two behind snow pack.”
He said there is enough water for the community, though more of it will likely be used as this summer is expected to be hot and dry.
“We'll probably have a longer irrigation season than normal, so we'll use more volume than normal, but we have a very robust and diversified water source portfolio,” McAfee said.
Almost half of Park City’s water supply comes from abandoned mining tunnels, including the Judge, Spiro and Ontario tunnels. The Judge and Spiro tunnels are treated at the 3Kings Water Treatment Plant, which began pumping drinking water in May 2024.
Another 30% of the area’s water is imported from the Rockport Reservoir.
McAfee said there are also three wells in the Park Meadows area. However, they are only used as needed because the water is hard and doesn’t taste as good as other sources.
If Park City experienced another few years like this one, however, McAfee said the city would have to limit outdoor water use.
“Our sources are more than capable of providing all the indoor demand year-round. The outdoor demand is what becomes tricky,” he said. “We have a code in place for drought restrictions that we can put in place to limit and reduce the outdoor watering.”
The first stage of drought is when demand is 90% of the available supply. That’s when the city would ask locals to use less water.
Stage two is when the city would limit outdoor watering from the regular every other day limit to a twice-a-week limit. The third stage would ban all outdoor watering, including filling swimming pools.
