Everyaction,
We need your help stopping a massive water boondoggle. The American Southwest is in the grips of a megadrought. As Colorado River flows dwindle, all climate signals suggest worse times ahead. Yet while other communities are taking steps to reduce water usage, Utah is pushing a scheme to suck the river dry. The proposed Lake Powell Pipeline would deliver water to the southwest corner of the state — Utah's slice of the magnificent Mojave — where water-usage rates are more than twice the national average. Tell the Bureau of Reclamation to reject this wasteful proposal and save us from a hugely expensive mistake. Rather than implementing proven, cost-effective water-conservation measures, Washington County wants to construct the pipeline with a multibillion-dollar loan shouldered by state taxpayers. County residents would then be subject to decades of rate increases to pay the state back. The environmental costs would also be staggering. The pipeline would cut across public lands between Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and the Grand Canyon, fragmenting habitat. Water sucked out of the Colorado River would hurt fish, wildlife and downstream communities. Urge federal officials to just say no to this nonsensical, destructive plan. |