St. George

St. George anchors Washington County, Utah, one of the fastest-growing desert regions in the country. The county has roughly doubled in population since 2000 and is projected to approach 500,000 residents by mid-century.

For years the region's growth plan centered on the Lake Powell Pipeline — a proposed multibillion-dollar conduit to pump Colorado River water more than 140 miles to St. George. That project stalled amid federal scrutiny and opposition from the other six Colorado River states and is now effectively shelved.

With its options narrowed, the Washington County Water Conservancy District is moving toward advanced water purification. The district is building an Advanced Water Purification Demonstration Facility alongside a Conservation Garden — the standard first step that lets engineers prove the process, train operators, and generate the regulatory data Utah requires before approving a full-scale potable reuse system.

St. George depends on the Virgin River, a Colorado River tributary, and has little buffer against continued shortfalls. Pairing supply-side reuse with aggressive demand reduction — turf replacement and conservation landscaping modeled on Las Vegas — is now central to the region's water future.