Bill establishing water fund advances from committee


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SALT LAKE CITY — Proponents of establishing a state water infrastructure fund say it is the first step on a comprehensive path to plan for statewide municipal water needs for 50 years into the future.

Critics see the legislative proposal as a way to push controversial and costly river diversions like the Lake Powell Pipeline and the Bear River Development projects.

The measure, SB281, survived a legislative committee's scrutiny and a 4-2 vote on Wednesday, even as members conceded they had concerns over a fund with no revenue stream.

"This is like setting the table for supper when there is no food," said Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden. "It makes me wonder where this money is going to come from. Why are we setting up the fund when there is no money at the moment?"

The sponsor, Senate Majority Whip Stuart Adams, R-Layton, told members of the Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee that prudence requires the establishment of the fund, especially should money become available for the projects.

"If we could find the money and we did not have that fund, it would be a travesty," he said.

Steve Erickson, with the Great Basin Water Network and a member of Gov. Gary Hebert's science advisory team studying water, said to set up the fund now is premature.

"Allow the governor's process to go forward. … We will suggest that there is no urgency to this," he said.

But proponents say the state cannot afford to ignore the need for future water development given that Utah's population is expected to nearly double in the next 35 years.

"If we don't start now, we are not going to be there in time," said Tage Flint, general manager of the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District.

Flint said that beyond the Bear River and Lake Powell Pipeline projects, the federal government put in a network of water delivery and storage systems in Utah decades ago, and the aging infrastructure will need to be repaired and replaced.

Groups that include the Utah Rivers Council say any action on the creation of a fund should be delayed until after an audit is released next month probing statewide water needs.

The Lake Powell Pipeline would tap Utah's unused portion of Colorado River water and deliver it to Washington County, while the Bear River Development project involves 220,000 acre-feet of water for use along the Wasatch Front. Groups that oppose the project say water districts need to price water more aggressively and invoke more stringent conservation practices.

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