The Utah Rivers Council (URC) won a major victory, forcing the Utah Division of Water Resources to explain why the agency has been keeping data about Utah water use a secret.
A 2015 legislative audit found that the Division didn’t know how much water Utah uses, and yet the Division has convinced lawmakers that Utah’s cities are running out of water and must finance two hugely exensive, environmentally catastrophic water projects—the Lake Powell Pipeline and Bear River Project.
URC suspects that the Division has been manipulating water use data to convince decision makers that costly water projects need funding. URC Executive Director Zach Frankel commented, “Either the Division knows there’s no justification for wasting $40 million a year on their pet projects or they are cooking the books again.” Let the fact-checking begin!
Utah Rivers Council: UtahRivers.org