Church Plans to Save 500M Gallons of Water in 2025

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is advancing a major water conservation initiative in 2025, projected to save an estimated 500 million gallons of water in its first year. This effort focuses on smart irrigation technology and sustainable landscaping practices across thousands of Church-owned properties, particularly in the arid western United States.

The initiative includes the installation of nearly 3,100 smart irrigation controllers at over 3,000 meetinghouses across six states: Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, Wyoming, and Montana. These controllers connect via cellular networks and automatically adjust watering schedules based on real-time weather data. Unlike traditional systems, smart controllers optimize water usage daily and allow remote adjustments, significantly reducing excess watering.

David Wright, a landscape architect in the Church’s Meetinghouse Facilities Department, explained that the smart systems can reduce water consumption by at least 20% when properly maintained. Andrew Stringfellow, Intermountain Facilities Services landscape manager, added that these controllers replace the need for manual changes and better match irrigation to actual conditions.

Beyond irrigation, the Church is also implementing sustainable landscaping, especially at Temple Square in Salt Lake City. The grounds now feature 30% more trees, 35% less turf grass, and a reduction in overall flower planting by 30%, while introducing drought-tolerant plants to further reduce water demand. These updates form part of a broader renovation that incorporates smart water practices in line with regional ecological needs.

Sustainability manager Jenica Sedgwick emphasized that the Church’s approach is guided by both practicality and principle. “It’s not just conserving water for conservation’s sake,” she said. “This is about being aware of our environment, aware of our water availability and aligning what we do to that ecological context.”

Under direction from the Presiding Bishopric and the First Presidency, water stewardship is one of several environmentally conscious priorities now embedded in Church operations. Global expansion of this effort is underway, particularly in water-scarce regions of Latin America, the Pacific Islands, and Southern Africa.

For more details, refer to the original article on The Church News.