Six states vow to battle Colorado River pipeline plan

Arizona and California among states willing to file suit to postpone project

CARSON CITY, Nev. (KYMA, KECY) - Six states that rely heavily on the Colorado River are banding together to delay plans to divert billions of gallons of its water to Utah. And, they say, they're willing to file suit to slow down the project.

The Lake Powell Pipeline (LPP) proposal would create a 140-mile underground system to transfer 86,000 acre-feet of water per year from Lake Powell to southwestern Utah.

Water officials from Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming aren't satisfied with the plan. They say it, as it stands, the project fails to address their concerns about the pipeline's effect on future water supplies.

They don't oppose the pipeline outright, but they do want it delayed until their worries have been attended to. On Tuesday, they sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt asking him to do exactly that.

"As Governors’ representatives of the Colorado River Basin States of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wyoming, we write to respectfully request that your office refrain from issuing a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) or Record of Decision (ROD) regarding the Lake Powell Pipeline until such time as the seven Basin States and the Department of the Interior (Interior) are able to reach consensus regarding outstanding legal and operational concerns raised by the proposed Lake Powell Pipeline project."

-Letter to Secretary of the Interior Bernhardt from Colorado River Basin water officials

The states don't dispute Utah's right to additional water under existing multi-state agreements. In fact, they say they view the state as a critical partner in their planning and success. However, they do believe more discussion, negotiation, and compromise are required before beginning work on the pipeline.

"For more than twenty years, the Basin States, including Utah, and Interior have worked tirelessly to achieve and maintain the reputation of the Colorado River as a model for other systems of management by consensus and collaboration. Remarkably, this consensus and collaboration has occurred – successfully – during a time of both unprecedented, supply-shrinking, multi-decade drought, and massive population growth in the Colorado River Basin. Together we accomplished many things once thought highly improbable, if not impossible, all to the benefit of those who rely on the Colorado River...

The State of Utah has been a critical partner through all of these efforts. As a result of the collaborative approach embodied in these successes and other efforts, we have not only limited the risk that the Colorado River system will crash, we have done so without introducing the unpredictability and untimeliness of having courts weigh in on Colorado River management."

-Letter to Secretary of the Interior Bernhardt from Colorado River Basin water officials

Water leaders say they are willing to take the issue to court, but would rather work it out amongst the states.

"...We believe the probability of multi-year litigation over a Lake Powell Pipeline FEIS or ROD is high, and that certain Law of the River questions properly left to discussions and resolution between the states are likely to be raised in such suits. That is not a recipe for creating the kind of meaningful and positive change needed to sustain the Colorado River in the coming decades."

-Letter to Secretary of the Interior Bernhardt from Colorado River Basin water officials

The water officials who signed the letter include:

• Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Thomas Buschatzke
• California Colorado River Board Chairman Peter Nelson
• John Entsminger of the Las Vegas-based Southern Nevada Water Authority
• Rebecca Mitchell, Director Colorado Water Conservation Board
• John R. D’Antonio Jr., New Mexico Office of the State Engineer
• Eric Witkoski, Executive Director, Colorado River Commission of Nevada