This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Gov. Gary Herbert and Utah legislators should oppose the Lake Powell pipeline funding in Senate Bill 80. The pipeline's water district proponents are putting the cart before the horse by seeking millions of public dollars year after year to promote a multi-billion-dollar boondoggle without trying cheaper and more reliable alternatives first.
The Legislative Auditor General, 21 Utah university economics professors and Herbert's own 2016 water budget recommendations have all raised serious pipeline-related questions and concerns. These include the unreliable data used to justify the pipeline, the exorbitant costs over fifty-plus years that water users would be unable to pay back and the water conservation measures that would better meet the future water needs in Kane and Washington counties.
Instead of addressing these questions and concerns, pipeline proponents are arrogantly using public money to hire expensive private lobbyists to push for more public money in SB80.
Utah has a proud heritage of fiscal conservatism and favoring market economics. As such, Utah's leaders should remove the property-tax subsidies that hide the true cost of water and initiate tiered-pricing to encourage water conservation.
These measures would remove the alleged need for the Lake Powell pipeline and the associated risking of billions of Utah tax dollars. The pipeline proponents won't take these necessary actions until their pipeline funding ends.
Carolyn Borg
St. George