Recent Water Conservation and Environmental Stewardship Measures
Donation and lease of nearly 30,000 acre-feet of water to the Great Salt Lake, making the Church one of the largest single donors of water assets to the lake to date. These transactions protect existing water flows to the lake and surrounding critical wetland habitats as well as increase water flows to the lake. Installation of over 3,100 smart irrigation controllers on landscapes for properties owned by the Church across the Intermountain West, including approximately 1,700 within the Great Salt Lake Basin. These installations are estimated to save hundreds of millions of gallons of water per year. Significant water-wise conservation efforts in the Intermountain West, saving approximately 1,600 acre-feet of water annually . This includes water-saving retrofits to Church-operated properties, including temples, meetinghouses, and other facilities. For example, water-wise updates to Temple Square landscaping are estimated to save up to 20 million gallons of water annually once the landscape is fully established. These efforts also include implementing precision irrigation technology on welfare farms. In multiple areas across the world facing drought and limited water resources, the Church practices water-saving principles for indoor and outdoor water use (such as smart irrigation controls, hydrozoning, drought-tolerant plants, and low-flow water fixtures). Other examples of the Church’s efforts to be wise stewards of natural resources include producing on-site solar energy at more than 1,000 Church-owned facilities , recycling more than 80 million pounds of goods through Deseret Industries in 2025, using sacrament cups made from 100% recycled plastic , and supporting communities affected by extreme weather through hundreds of humanitarian projects each year.
