Water management is complex in one of the nation’s driest states.

The latest:

• The Great Salt Lake hit record low levels in October. The previous record was in 1963, raising alarm for and urgency on how to best protect this resource, valued as a $1.3 billion economic driver for the state.
• 95% of Utah's water comes as snowpack in the mountains.
• It’s estimated that more than 70% of secondary water is used for landscaping. Utah Governor Spencer Cox wants Utah to be the first state in the nation to implement a statewide program in which residents are paid to tear out turf and replace it with water-wise vegetation.
• The Utah Seismic Safety Commission recommends that $192 million be dedicated to four major Wasatch Front aqueducts that deliver water to more than two million people.

Utah’s use of water and its water delivery systems are likely to be front and center during this legislative session.

‘Test to stay’ bill passes

What happened: The Utah House of Representatives voted 55-16 yesterday to make top state leaders the ones to decide whether local schools can pivot to online learning amid a COVID-19 surge.

Context: Utah Code requires schools to provide in-person instruction at least four days per week. In mid January, growing numbers of Utah schools reached "test to stay" thresholds while at the same time experiencing staff shortages. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, legislative leaders and the state superintendent issued a letter suspending "test to stay" and allowing flexibility on in-person learning from Jan. 17 to 28.

What is "test to stay"?: Once Utah schools reached a certain threshold, they were required to conduct schoolwide COVID-19 testing. Then, those who tested negative would return to in-person learning, while those who tested positive would need to return home until their quarantine was over or they could produce a negative test result. 

Read more about HB183 from Marjorie Cortez.

More in Politics

• Opinion: This isn’t the presidency Joe Biden promised (Deseret News)
• Tax cuts, cost of living increases and money for schools: How the Legislature wants to spend Utah's extra $1 billion in revenue (Salt Lake Tribune 🔒)
• Utah bill seeks to close child care gap for 'desperate' parents (KSL.com)
• This Arizona Democrat says some senators want him to challenge Kyrsten Sinema (Deseret News)

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COVID

• Does omicron mean a new phase is coming for the COVID-19 pandemic? (Deseret News)
• The biggest difference in omicron variant symptoms for vaccinated and unvaccinated (Deseret News)

Faith

• New responsibilities for Primary counselors among latest updates to the General Handbook (Church News)
• Here’s how much the Giving Machines raised for charity during #LightTheWorld in 2021 (Deseret News)

Southern Utah

• Bureau of Land Management releases decision on gathering wild horses in Iron, Beaver and Millard counties (St. George News)

Northern Utah

• There’s a junkyard in space, and this University of Utah team has discovered a way to clean it up (Utah Business)
• Teacher sues Utah school district, claiming retaliation for reporting harassment (KSL.com)
• 'More that needs to be done': Is this the future of Salt Lake City's Pioneer Park? (KSL.com)
  
• Utah Board of Education crafts transgender student guidelines, to face continued review (The Daily Herald)
  

The West

• Rain, snow or drought, this man makes sure your water is still on tap (Deseret News)
• Utah leaders say growth is good for the state. Do Utahns agree? (Deseret News)

The Nation

• U.S. small businesses continue to struggle amid omicron surge, ongoing labor shortages (Deseret News)
• Supreme Court to weigh end to race-based US college admissions (NPR)

The World

• Latter-day Saint missionaries temporarily leave Ukraine due to political tensions (Deseret News)
• U.S. puts 8,500 troops on high alert for possible deployment to Eastern Europe (Deseret News)
• Tonga volcano was bigger than Hiroshima bombing, NASA says (Deseret News)

The transfer portal: Too much of a good thing?

Much has been written — in the Deseret News and elsewhere — about the transfer portal, which is drawing a crowd of opportunistic athletes. The portal has been largely celebrated because it provides freedom for college athletes to move to another school without penalty.

This makes sense. Other students can transfer to schools that they decide better meet their needs, so it’s also fair that athletes can transfer freely, right?

Not necessarily.

Read more from Doug Robinson.

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