What is the most urgent interest facing Utah? Listening to the Republican legislative leaders, it’s the lack of housing to support unbridled growth.
Can Utah really afford to continue uncontrolled growth when our water resources are dwindling to the point that Great Salt Lake is drying up and the Colorado River is in crisis as a source of water for much of Utah, including inter-basin transfers from the Duchesne River and the Strawberry Reservoir to serve the populated Wasatch Front?
Yet, the Republican supermajority in the Legislature is now scheming to pass a new law designed to pirate more Bear River water using provisions in the just-introduced HB491 that would keep future activities in state water policy secret. That is to say, not subject to the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) – so the public can’t see exactly what future water policy would look like until deals are done and beyond recourse.
How is secrecy good public policy?
What about our most precious public resource, water, has to be kept secret and out of the view of public meetings and oversight? Could it be because at least some in our Republican supermajority don’t want anyone to be able to follow the money?
Marv Poulson, Salt Lake City
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