In the last week Gov. Gary Herbert issued a state of emergency for all of Utah’s counties due to severe drought conditions.

Herbert issued the executive order based on recommendations from the Utah Drought Review and Reporting Committee.

“Such difficult conditions are harming the quality of life and the livelihoods of many Utah families and agricultural producers. The ramifications of drought extend beyond our depleted water supply. Drought harms our industries, agriculture, recreation and wildlife, and it worsens wildfire conditions and air quality,” Herbert said.

Sixteen of Utah’s top 49 reservoirs are less than 20 percent full, and eight of Utah’s top 49 reservoirs are less than 5 percent full.

And yet, many Utahns have not taken any significant measures to aid water conservation. We act like we live in an oasis instead of one of the driest states in the nation.

Utah uses the most water per capita in the U.S., but receives the second lowest annual rainfall, according to the U.S. Weather Bureau.

Drought and desert landscape? Eh, why not put in giant yards of grass in new developments. Or leave sprinklers on during rainstorms. Or grow crops that require intensive watering.

Utah prides itself on being fiscally conservative and prepared, yet simultaneously is the most liberal and irresponsible in the country with our water conservation.

Despite having similar water issues like our neighboring states, Utah County and much of the Wasatch has not adopted any water conservation landscaping techniques like Arizona or Nevada.

Cities and HOAs establish certain standards of burdens to residents to maintain green yards and park strips, requiring plenty of secondary water use. Some of our cities and schools are the guiltiest in irresponsible watering. Our neighborhoods and cities should instead be encouraging and incentivizing residents who take active measures to reduce their water usage. Developers need to be responsible in their creation of new homes and neighborhoods and incorporate waterwise methods for conservation in neighborhood plans.

We realize that, heading into the fall and winter, this is essentially a moot point this time of year, but the winter’s runoff is not likely to solve all of our water problems for next summer or even the next five summers.

This behavior might fly for a couple more years, but eventually it will catch up to us … and our growing population.

Our water supply is not endless. To act as such, as we currently do, is reckless and obtuse.

The governor asked residents to use water wisely moving forward with tips like only running dishwashers when they are full. While we believe measures like these are wonderful to be conscious of, it seems illogical to be talking about such detailed, and yet necessary measures, without also talking about the big areas and ways in which Utahns are wasting water.

We cannot control the precipitation we receive, but we can control how we utilize what is left and available to us.

We commend local companies like Skydrop in American Fork, whose story we shared this week. Skydrop has developed smart sprinkler tech that tackles wasteful landscape watering, utilizing water conservation right at the individual sprinkler. It enables users to water their lawns, gardens and shrubs on a responsive schedule according to when the plants actually need the water.

We urge all Utahns to read up on efforts they can take to alleviate their burden on our limited water resources. Visit websites like http://conservewater.utah.gov or http://slowtheflow.org to learn what habits you need to change.

Some may choose to ignore this emergency and caution, but it does not make it go away and in the end we will have to pay.