Utah's research authority on landscape water reduction.
The Plant Institute Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit running continuous measurement and reduction programs across Utah's three primary climate zones — Wasatch Front, Southern Utah, and the Uintah Basin. Our field data is the foundation for how we advise cities, districts, and property owners.
The statewide picture.
Utah is the second-driest state in the country — and a leading per-capita residential water user.
For decades, Utah residents have watered landscapes that were never designed for a high-desert climate. The result: per-capita residential water use that places Utah among the highest in the arid West, despite comparable climates and shrinking reservoirs.
The Great Salt Lake has lost more than 70% of its surface area since 1850. The Colorado River system, which supplies a significant share of the Wasatch Front's water, is operating at historic lows. Every major Utah utility has implemented tiered rate structures. Conservation is no longer optional — it's priced in.
The Plant Institute Inc. was founded to address this at the landscape level, where the majority of Utah residential water actually goes. We reject the idea that reduction requires ugliness. Our approach is built on peer-reviewed canopy and turf research, and our program is designed around a 30–60% reduction target — verified at your water meter 12 months after implementation.
JLB Canopy Management + GreenRx Plant Optimization.
Both systems are designed as research protocols — not service SKUs. Methodology and measurement are published with every project.
JLB Canopy Management System™
Built on a decade of canopy-ET research, the JLB method prescribes specific cut types and canopy layer sequences that reduce evapotranspiration demand on the landscape beneath. On mature Utah canopy (maple, ash, locust, sycamore), structural corrections often produce the largest single reduction lever on the property.
GreenRx™ Plant Optimization Protocol
GreenRx begins with physical soil cores — infiltration, compaction, root-zone biology — and ends with an irrigation and controller prescription. Corrections are concentrated on the zones where the climate fundamentally mismatches the planted landscape.
Three Utah climate zones. Three reduction strategies.
The same protocol doesn't work everywhere. Our prescriptions change by zone, and the reduction profile with it.
Zone 1 — Wasatch Front
Strategy: Aggressive JLB canopy layering on existing deciduous trees; GreenRx prescriptions on lawn and shrub beds.
Typical design target: 40–55% reduction.
Zone 2 — Southern Utah
Strategy: GreenRx-led, with JLB secondary. We retain functional shade canopy and optimize water-hungry turf.
Typical design target: 50–60% reduction.
Zone 3 — Uintah & Eastern Basin
Strategy: Windbreak-first canopy design, soil moisture retention, and controller programming calibrated for extreme diurnal swings.
Typical design target: 35–48% reduction.
11 Utah cities. One statewide standard.
Every city page includes local rate structure, rebate availability, restriction calendar, and a direct form to request your Free Water Savings Analysis.
Ogden
Salt Lake City
Provo
Orem
Lehi
Riverton
Herriman
Taylorsville
Sandy
Draper
St. George
Where our numbers come from.
We publish methodology alongside results. These are the public data sources that underpin every baseline we establish.
STATE
Utah Division of Water Resources
Municipal and industrial water use reports, outdoor-use percentages, per-capita benchmarks.
STATE
Utah Climate Center
Monthly temperature and precipitation anomalies for weather-normalized reduction measurement.
FEDERAL
USGS & USBR
Great Salt Lake elevation records and Colorado River Basin storage levels.
UTILITY
Utah water conservancy districts
Weber Basin, Jordan Valley, Central Utah, Washington County, Salt Lake City Public Utilities — rate structures, rebates, restriction calendars.
RESEARCH
USU Extension
Utah State University Extension's landscape irrigation, canopy, and soil research.
LITERATURE
Peer-reviewed canopy & turf studies
Applied horticulture and irrigation-efficiency research from the last decade.
Statewide FAQ.
Is outdoor water really the majority of Utah residential use?
Can landscapes really be reduced 30–60% without looking worse?
Does Utah rebate water-conservation landscaping?
How does The Plant Institute relate to public campaigns like Slow the Flow?
What's the Great Salt Lake connection?
Where can I read your methodology?
Wherever your Utah property sits, there's a number you're wasting.
Get a free, written Water Savings Analysis from a Plant Institute researcher.
Free Water Savings Analysis
Response within 1 business day.