Water and Health
Learn more about water quality, droughts, flooding, and safe water recreation.
The Basics
- Save water before and during a drought
Ready.gov provides general tips to save water before and during a drought.
The state of Utah provides incentives and rebates for saving water, which you can learn about on the Utah Water Savers website.
- Be prepared for flooding
Utah's Be Ready website can help you learn what to do before, during, and after a flood.
- Learn water recreation safety
Refer to this map to learn more about water quality and to see if your recreational water source is safe for you and your animals to use.
- Know what to do in a drinking water quality emergency
Learn what to do before and during a water emergency with this Utah Department of Health and Human Services flyer.
Interested in learning more?
Additional Resources
Drought
Explore the impact that drought has on public health, along with a map of drought conditions in the United States.
Resources to help you conserve water, such as lawn watering guides, a water use calculator, localscaping information, and a place to report water waste.
An educational campaign funded by the Governor’s Water Conservation Team to raise awareness by connecting Utahns to water-saving resources.
Great Salt Lake
This website offers information about the importance of the Great Salt Lake to public health and its current condition.
Floods
Booklet detailing the basics of flooding in Utah: Who is at risk, how to read a floodplain map, what flood insurance is, and what to do in a flood scenario.
Floodplain maps to help individuals and communities understand their risk for flooding.
Water Quality
Use this tool to find your public culinary water provider. Once you know your provider, use Waterlink to get information about your water system.
Resources for users of privately owned water systems, such as how to test, treat, and protect your drinking water.
This website will teach you about water contamination and the three-step process for treating water.
Water Recreation
Resources from the Utah Department of Environmental Quality on recreational water health alerts, current conditions, and other resources.
Additional Data
Drought
Regularly updated monitoring of drought conditions in Utah.
Maps of future drought projections in the United States.
Explore a variety of data compiled by Utah State University on Utah's watersheds and water use.
Great Salt Lake
Study on Health Benefits of Great Salt Lake Restoration
This 2026 study sought to quantify the health cost of Great Salt Lake dust compared to the cost of water leasing.
Great Salt Lake Dust Toxin Study
A team from Utah State University and the University of Utah researched how toxins in Great Salt Lake Dust impact plants, soils, and humans.
USGS study on Great Salt Lake dust and its health impact.
Floods
Health Indicator Report of Flooding
The report details the cost of flood damage in Utah from 1996–2021.
Water Quality
Utah Public Health Indicator: Water Quality
Explore the importance of water quality to public health and data sets of drinking water contamination in Utah.
Utah Division of Water Quality Database
Maps, data, and information about water quality monitoring and conditions in Utah.
Environmental Public Health Tracking: Drinking Water Contamination
Information, data, and Utah health assessments related to drinking water contamination.
Water Recreation
Utah Public Health Indicator: Recreational Waterborne Disease Outbreaks
This report details recreational waterborne disease outbreaks in Utah from 1998–2023.
