Brent Hunter sure would like to have water from a Lake Powell pipeline for his Iron County users, but physics is working against him.
Mike Noel wants some of that liquid gold for his folks in Kane County as well, and he has geography in his favor.
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The selling point in Kane: Kanab is only 100 miles away and sits at the "head of the stream" to snag its 10,000 acre-feet of water.
The sticking point in Iron: Its allotment of 20,000 acre-feet would have to be pumped uphill to Cedar City, inflating the price.
"We need the water in a bad way," said Hunter, chairman of the Central Iron County Water Conservancy District. "We’re overdrawing our aquifer so options are simple, but we would need some help paying for it, maybe from Uncle Sam."
But pumping the water 50 miles north and 3,000 feet uphill could cost around $30 million a year, he said, on top of the $400 million the district would owe to be part of the pipeline.
Besides, Hunter said, local support for the pipeline has softened under a new Cedar City Council. The new anti-pipeline sentiment even prompted the water district’s executive director to resign.
Scott Wilson stepped down because he could not abide by the strict conservation measures that would be needed without the pipeline water.
Users would have to cut back from 205 gallons a day to 67 gallons.
"I’m not the guy to champion that banner," Wilson said.
Newly elected Cedar City Councilman Paul Cozzens worries that the $20 million a year required just to service debt on a pipeline could make the water too expensive and hinder growth.
Even so, Cozzens, who was named to the Conservancy District Board, believes that if Iron County opts out of the project, it still should get its water allotment, which could then be leased or sold.
"I don’t think Washington County should get our earmark," Cozzens said. "That is our water."
In Kane County, Noel, a state lawmaker and executive director of the Kane County Water Conservancy District, expects his agency to join the project.
He said costscould range from $30 million to $50 million in addition to the tab for a treatment plant to pipe and store the water.
"Ours is the cheapest part [of the project]," Noel said, "so it makes sense for Kane County."
Kanab City Councilman Ed Meyer agrees. "Sometimes you have to make a costly investment," he said, "but it can pay big dividends, especially when, like water, it involves a limited commodity."
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