St. George • Utah wants the federal government to resume its work permitting the Lake Powell Pipeline project.

The Spectrum reports Utah water officials in January asked to halt the project, worried over jurisdictional questions about whether the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission would continue to act as the permitting agency.

The state still hasn't received any answers, and attorneys for the Utah Board of Water Resources and the Washington County Water Conservancy District filed a letter Wednesday with the commission asking it to proceed.

State water officials have spent more than $30 million over the past decade readying its proposals for the pipeline, which would carry water some 140 miles (225 kilometers) out of Lake Powell and across parts of Utah and Arizona to communities in Washington and Kane counties.