Never Solved, Only Outgrown: The Most Important Problem(s) Facing Utah

Nearly 90 percent of Utahans surveyed identified the most important problem (MIP) facing the state as either the environment (50%) or population growth and development (40%) in the inaugural Utah People and Environment Poll (UPEP) conducted in March-May 2023 (see Figure 1). Eleven percent of Utahns identified air quality issues – including pollution and its negative impacts – as the single largest component within the MIP environment and climate change category. According to the results of the poll, water and air pollution, affordable housing, pressure on the environment and threats to habitat boil down to “too many . . . damn people†as one respondent quipped and “uncontrolled growth,†according to another. More than half of respondents who identified water as the state’s MIP used terms such as water resources, use of water, the drying up of the Great Salt Lake, declining snowpack, and “water in the wrong place.â€