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John Hollenhorst reporting A battle is suddenly shaping up over a dramatic proposal to import water to St. George. Proponents of a Lake Powell pipeline turned on the hard sell today, and critics are getting organized to fight.
As Western cities scramble for water, Las Vegas wants to send a huge pipeline north and drill for water in central and eastern Nevada. St. George is looking east to Lake Powell, and the fight in Utah is just getting started.
The people pushing for a Lake Powell pipeline invited the big players in Utah water to take helicopter rides today. The route was east out of St. George, across desert that's rapidly filling with homes, and over the rugged wilderness along the Utah-Arizona border. This is the route the pipeline would cross to bring water to a community facing a collision of growth and thirst.
"We have water supplies that will get us to around 2020, and then I think we either have additional water or we quit growing," said Ron Thompson, with the Washington County Water Conservancy District.
The pipeline would start near the Glen Canyon Dam and travel west toward Kanab. A spur would serve Kane County. The bulk of the water would travel to Washington County, with another spur north to Cedar City.
Because of the dramatic topography, water would have to be pumped up 3,000 feet in elevation. "We have a big cost in lifting the water, really have to have five pump stations," said project manager Larry Anderson.
But it winds up lower than Lake Powell. So, where the water goes downhill, seven hydro stations will generate and sell electricity "It will not pay the construction costs. The best that we can do is get close to break even on the power that we have to buy," Anderson said.
Proponents hope to win approval from federal officials and start building in 2015. "We better have it by 2020 or we're gonna have to start closing the doors," Thompson said.
"We're going to have to say, 'No more growth' at some point. We live in a desert," said Paul Van Dam, director of Citizens for Dixie's Future.
Former Attorney General Paul Van Dam just signed on as director of Citizens for Dixie's Future. He's demanding the project be put to a vote. "A lot of people in this county now are starting to talk and think about quality of life and whether they want a million people stuffed in this county," he said.
The cost will be about $500 million, but with interest, probably three times that over the next several decades. It's debating point is whether it's worth it.
"Loaded totally onto the people of this county, without their meaningful input. I mean, I think there ought to be a referendum where they say 'yes' or 'no' to it after a real good public discussion about it," Van Dam said.
Thompson said, "I think those that have an investment in the economy and believe in the free enterprise system. [I] think we need adequate water resources to meet those needs."
Similar controversies have erupted in Las Vegas. Even Nevada's governor has publicly questioned the plan for a pipeline running north.
E-mail: jhollenhorst@ksl.com
