The 2026 Northern Utah Water Users Spring Runoff Conference concluded this week after bringing together nearly 300 attendees and participants for two days of presentations, conversations and breakout sessions focused on water challenges and solutions in Utah.

Hosted by Utah State University and Cache Water District, Spring Runoff is an annual conference designed to connect researchers, agricultural irrigators, policymakers, students and community partners around the issues shaping water in northern Utah. This year’s conference placed special emphasis on partnerships across sectors and on the opportunities and challenges surrounding water leasing. The event featured eight plenary talks, 43 research posters and 24 breakout sessions, many of them led by USU students.

“We spend a lot of time thinking about how to create spaces where people can come together around the issues that matter most to our state,” said Utah State University President Brad Mortensen in remarks opening the second day of the conference. “This is one of those spaces. Water doesn’t belong to any one group. It doesn’t sit in a single business, research area or single agency. It’s part of everything we do in Utah … our agriculture, our communities, our economy and our future.”

Mortensen said one of the conference’s strengths is that it brings together people who do not always work in the same spaces.

“When we take the time to listen and learn from each other, we challenge each other’s perspectives, we make better decisions and we tend to find more common ground than we might expect,” he said.

Spring Runoff takes its name from one of the conference’s centerpiece presentations: an annual report on snowpack and projected spring runoff conditions. This year, Jordan Clayton of the Natural Resources Conservation Service reported that Utah has seen unprecedented, record-low snow-water equivalent in our statewide snowpack. At the same time, he noted, the state has received near-normal total precipitation and has seen higher-than-normal soil moisture, making the effects of the low snowpack more difficult to predict.

“During this bleak water year, it almost feels hard to call it a ‘spring runoff’ conference,” said Anna McEntire, managing director of the Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water & Air at Utah State University. “But it’s times like this when it’s especially important to come together and talk about solutions.”

Other highlights from the conference included remarks from Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and the ceremonial signing of five water bills passed during the 2026 Utah General Legislative Session.

“This water year kind of sucked. It’s been rough,” Cox said. “It is a great reminder that we live at the whims of Mother Nature.”

One of the bills signed during the conference was H.B. 313, Landscaper Certification Amendments. Rep. John Arthur, the bill’s sponsor, credited Utah State University student and ILWA summer fellow Becca Ivans for the idea behind the legislation, based on her research into policy options for waterwise landscaping.

Partnerships were a major theme throughout the two-day event, including discussions among faculty and leaders from multiple sectors about how to break down silos and better coordinate around Utah’s water challenges. USU faculty also met during the conference to continue building connections around a Utah Water Network and to discuss how researchers can engage more directly in water problem-solving across the state.

“Partnerships are so important,” said Camille Touton, former commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. “I’ve always valued the way I’ve been able to work with colleagues in Utah, even when we don’t see eye to eye, to come to a solution.”

Several sessions also focused on water leasing, an issue that is gaining increased attention as Utah and other Western states look for flexible ways to respond to water scarcity while recognizing the realities facing agricultural producers and rural communities.

Peter Stanton, CEO of Walker Basin Conservancy, shared lessons from Nevada, where his organization has worked to build support for environmental water acquisition and long-term water management.

“Relationships and trust take time,” Stanton said. “We’ve had to put in the work to build that trust, and that requires ongoing, continuing information flow and plenty of early local involvement.”