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Letter: Hey, northern Utah, thanks in advance for the water, and the money

Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Taxpayers can expect to foot up to 72 percent of the controversial Lake Powell Pipeline's costs, according to University of Utah economists who analyzed repayment models developed in support of the billion-dollar-plus proposal to pipe Colorado River water from Glen Canyon Dam, above, 140 miles to St. George. Officials from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) began a two-day site visit in southern Utah Tuesday, examining the 139-mile route of the proposed Lake Powell Pipeline, September 20, 2016. The public tour was so that FERC could view the pipeline's planned hydropower stations, proposed alignment and the environment the pipeline will cross.

I think that the story by Emma Penrod in the Jan. 28 Tribune about the proposed Lake Powell Pipeline was well researched and an accurate account of the how the people who run Utah would like the people who live in Utah to envision the project.

There is one issue with the project: No way in heck are the people of southern Utah going to end up paying for this. If this thing sees the light of day, everyone who pays taxes in Utah (which, granted, are primarily the “nonbelievers”) will be picking up the tab.

After all, we like large green spaces just like you folks up north, we just don’t want to deal with the traffic, the crappy air, and all that confounded noise about diversity. We want green golf courses, soccer, baseball and softball fields, and what the heck, sometimes just lots of open spaces filled with green grass because it looks nice. We are not about to become a bunch of left-wing, water-saving, climate-change-believing, tree-hugging conservationists.

But thanks in advance for the water, and the money.

Dave Draper, Ivins

By Dave Draper | The Public Forum