Letter to the editor: We don’t need the Lake Powell Pipeline and its massive debt
Editor’s Note: To submit a response to this column, or submit a letter to the editor on a new topic, email your submission to opinion@usustatesman.com.
Do Utahns know that, under existing state law, we are all collectively obligated to cover the multi-billion-dollar-debt if the controversial Lake Powell Pipeline (LPP) is constructed? Do Utahns realize that climate change has caused a megadrought that has already reduced Colorado River water deliveries and caused economic hardship in other states? Do Utahns know that the LPP may violate the Colorado River Compact because it would be a transfer of upper basin water to a lower basin use, and that Arizona would need to issue permits for its construction?
These are crucial issues that Utah’s elected officials tend to ignore or downplay as they eagerly promote the LPP for wealthy development interests. I live in Washington County; the only Utah county to receive LPP water. My county refuses to implement reasonable water conservation measures that are feasible and successful in other Southwest communities. The county’s average daily per capita water use is more than twice that of Los Angeles and nearly three times that of Tucson. Here, we live in the Mojave desert, but sadly don’t act like it.
Utah’s leaders and the Bureau of Reclamation are rushing to get the LPP approved before President Trump may leave office in January. The Bureau released a biased LPP environmental study that failed to analyze any water conservation alternatives. During this pandemic-affected economy, when so many higher priority needs are struggling for reduced funding, it is madness to risk billions of public dollars on the LPP when other cheaper and more reliable alternatives are available. If you agree, please vote accordingly, and otherwise inform your representatives of your opposition to assuming massive LPP debt.
– Richard Spotts
Mr. Spotts has lived in Saint George for the past eighteen years. He retired about three years ago after a professional career spanning over forty years. His former jobs included environmental attorney, registered lobbyist, watershed project director, county zoning administrator, and National Environmental Policy Act expert for the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management. He is now actively engaged as a volunteer citizen activist on several issues involving public lands, water, and wildlife conservation.