This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
As chairman of the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, I wish to share the tribe's position and views regarding the Lake Powell Pipeline project, and the tribe's work on the project since its inception and planning. Recently, the public has voiced strong opposition to the significant cost estimates for the project and a general unwillingness to take on such an expense when other alternatives to addressing water shortages do not appear to have been addressed. The tribe will not be subject to those costs, however, the impacts on the tribe will be as significant, if not more so.
The project is intended to convey water from Lake Powell to St. George, utilizing the state of Utah's allocation of water from the Colorado River. The process to determine whether the project is eligible for a hydroelectric license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and whether the project will comply with environmental laws, has been an ongoing process in which the tribe has been substantially involved. The Utah Department of Water Resources (UDWR) and the Water Conservancy Districts for Washington County and Kane County are the project proponents. In addition to FERC, various federal agencies are involved in determining whether to permit the construction of the project.
There are two possible routes for the pipeline. The first route would begin at Lake Powell and travel along Arizona State Highway 389, crossing through the Kaibab Indian Reservation, then continue to Hurricane. The alternative route would begin at Lake Powell, diverge to a line running south of the reservation mostly following the Navajo-McCullough transmission line, then continue to Hurricane. The second route is also known as the southern route, and it would avoid the reservation entirely. The southern route lands are almost entirely administered by the Bureau of Land Management.
The tribe has engaged in substantial work to examine possible adverse impacts from the project in the both alignments, both individually and in combination with the two other Southern Paiute tribes — the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe — whose reservations and traditional territories are located within the region to be affected by the project. The tribe has provided critical information to the UDWR and the federal government agencies involved in the project, which information has been kept confidential and not made part of the public record for the project.
Following its in-depth analyses, the tribe has stated its preference that the project alignment follow Arizona State Highway 389 as it crosses the reservation. Despite the tribe's efforts to demonstrate the very negative and likely impacts on tribal resources resulting from a southern pipeline alignment, on Dec. 1, 2015, the UDWR filed its Preliminary Licensing Proposal with FERC, in which it identified the alignment to the south of and entirely outside the reservation as the preferred alternative. The UDWR's preferred alignment would mostly follow the Navajo-McCullough Transmission Line, portions of which have been identified as an energy transmission corridor, but with which the tribe has never agreed.
The tribe will continue to assert its position that the project should follow the reservation alignment as the permitting process continues before FERC. The tribe has regularly engaged with the UDWR and the water conservancy districts. The UDWR has stated its interest in working with the tribe to address and protect tribal interests. The Tribe is also a cooperating agency with FERC, the BLM and the other federal agencies in the National Environmental Policy Act compliance process. This means that the tribe will participate in the preparation of the environmental impact statement for the project. Participating as a cooperating agency means that having a good working relationship with the BLM is important. The tribe's role as a cooperating agency will further enable it to protect tribal interests that may be affected by the project.
It is the tribe's hope that its efforts will help preserve undeveloped lands in perpetuity, lands which have critical historical, religious and cultural importance to the tribe, while at the same time offer the UDWR and water conservancy districts a way in which they can construct the Project.
Roland Maldonado is chairman of the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians.