Posts

Opinion: Using Lake Powell to Keep Lawns Green in Utah Would be a Waste of Resources

/in , , /by /Las Vegas Sun

The recent downgrade in the forecast for the flow of water in the Colorado River should be a death punch to the proposal to build a new pipeline out of Lake Powell. The pipeline was already a major threat to Las Vegas and much of the rest of the Southwest; now the threat risk is heading off the charts.

The proposal would drain 28 billion gallons of water per year from Lake Powell to St. George, Utah, and the surrounding area. That’s a huge amount of water — more than a quarter of what Nevada is allotted annually from Lake Mead (97.8 billion gallons).

Full Story

After Insisting on Expedited Review, Utah Now Asks Feds to Delay Lake Powell Pipeline Decision

/in , , /by /The Salt Lake Tribuneby Brian Maffly

Utah’s proposed Lake Powell pipeline had been on a fast track for approval, but on Thursday state water officials asked the Interior Department to slow down the controversial billion-dollar project’s review.

Full Story

Utah asks US to Delay Decision on Tapping Colorado River

/in , , /by /AP News

Facing opposition from six states that rely on the Colorado River for water for their cities and farms, Utah asked the federal government to delay a fast-track approval process for building an underground pipeline that would transport billions of gallons of water to the southwest part of the state.

Full Story

Colorado, 5 Other States Promise Lawsuits if Feds Fast-Track Approval of Utah’s Lake Powell Pipeline Project

/in , , /by /9News and Colorado Sunby Jason Blevins

For more than 20 years, negotiations among the seven states that rely on the Colorado River have avoided lawsuits, even as drought and population growth threaten the river’s flows.

That may change as a promise to rush the environmental review of a diversion project between the Colorado River’s upper and lower basins has six states suggesting lawsuits challenging the project could topple years of agreements.

Full Story

Six Western States Blast Utah Plan to Tap Colorado River Water

/in , , /by /ABC Newsby Sam Metz (Associated Press/Report for America)

Six states in the U.S. West that rely on the Colorado River to sustain cities and farms rebuked a plan to build an underground pipeline that would transport billions of gallons of water through the desert to southwest Utah.

In a joint letter Tuesday, water officials from Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming urged the U.S. government to halt the approval process for the project, which would bring water 140 miles (225 km) from Lake Powell in northern Arizona to the growing area surrounding St. George, Utah.

Full Story

Nevada Residents Blast Utah’s Lake Powell Pipeline Plan

/in , , /by /AP News

A group of residents in a southern Nevada town that sits along the Colorado River are organizing a campaign to oppose a proposed pipeline that would divert billions of gallons of river water to southwest Utah, reflecting intensifying struggles over water in the U.S. West.

Full Story

‘The Pie Keeps Shrinking’: Lake Mead’s Low Level Will Trigger Water Cutbacks for Arizona, Nevada

/in , , /by /Arizona Republicby Ian James

Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will again receive less water from the Colorado River next year under a set of agreements intended to help boost the level of Lake Mead, which now stands at just 40% of its full capacity.

The federal Bureau of Reclamation released projections on Friday showing that Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, will be at levels next year that continue to trigger moderate cutbacks in the two U.S. states and Mexico.

Full Story

This Giant Climate Hot Spot is Robbing the West of its Water

/in , , /by /The Washington Postby Juliet Eilperin

On New Year’s Day in 2018, Paul Kehmeier and his father drove up Grand Mesa until they got to the county line, 10,000 feet above sea level. Instead of the three to five feet of snow that should have been on the ground, there wasn’t enough of a dusting to even cover the grass.

The men marveled at the sight, and Kehmeier snapped a photo of his dad, “standing on the bare pavement, next to bare ground.”

Full Story

How a Tiny Fish is Helping Utah and the West Tackle Big Questions About the Colorado River’s Future

/in , /by /The Salt Lake Tribune (Inside ClimateNews)by Judy Fahys

Charismatic is hardly the best word to describe the humpback chub, a fish with a frowny eel face jammed onto a sport fish body in a way that suggests evolution has a sense of humor. Nor did tastiness build a fan base for this “trash fish” across its natural habitat throughout the Colorado River Basin. But, in 1973, the humpback chub became famous by winning federal protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Full Story

Opinion: Nevada Should Challenge Utah’s Move for a Lake Powell Pipeline

/in , , /by /The Nevada Independent by Richard Spotts

In politics, what goes around can and sometimes should come around. A case in point is the Desert National Wildlife Refuge and Lake Powell Pipeline.

Utah’s infamous Rep. Rob Bishop, known for his abysmally bad voting record on public lands and environmental issues, recently pulled off a “sneak attack” on Nevada in the House Armed Services Committee. On July 1st, reportedly without consulting with any Nevada officials, he put forward an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act legislation to give the Air Force primary control over approximately 850,000 acres of the DNWR.

Full Story