‘Less water doesn’t mean no water’ in Washington County even if Lake Powell Pipeline doesn’t happen

ST. GEORGE — What could Washington County look like if the Lake Powell Pipeline project fails to be built?

It’s a question St. George News started asking local officials nearly four years ago. Since then the drought has increasingly worsened and Lake Powell’s water level has dipped to record lows.

In this file photo, St. George City as seen from the Dixie Rock/Sugarloaf formation at Pioneer Park, St. George, Utah, July 2016 | File photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Much has happened involving Lake Powell since 2018. In addition to the drought worsening, the pipeline project has seen the federal permitting process advance and then pause as neighboring states that share the Colorado River voiced their concerns. The Bureau of Reclamation also announced the first-ever shortage on the river, which since has resulted in water cuts to some of the Lower Colorado Basin states.

“The first thing is the community will have to make some tough choices,” said Brock Belnap, an associate general manager at the Washington County Water Conservancy District in relation to the county having less water.

“If we only have the Virgin River Basin as our source of water, then our growing community will have to learn to do more within its existing supply because as more people come in, you’ll have to slice the pie (of available water) smaller,” Belnap added. “That will require us to make some decisions as to what we want to look like as a community.”

Any major decision regarding water use and policy would have be made by state, county and municipal governments as the water district does not have that authority, he said. The water district primary’s job is to provide water and secure new sources of water for the county and will adapt to the needs of the county as appropriate.

Brock Belnap, an associate general manager for the Washington County Water Conservancy District overseeing the Lake Powell Pipeline, speaks about possible impacts if the pipeline isn’t built, St. George, Utah, March 31, 2022 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

“The Lake Powell Pipeline is still really important for the city of St. George,” St. George City Manager Adam Lenhard told St. George News. “If for some reason that project did not get approved, then we’d have to look more closely at conservation and also at the expansion of our secondary irrigation system.”

Because the rising intensity of the drought over the last year has brought water use to the forefront, St. George and other municipalities already have begun looking at conservation measures and secondary water expansion, Lenhard added.

Recently, members of the St. George City Council voiced concerns over whether there would have enough water for growth if the pipeline project failed to materialize.

“All that growth needs water,” Lenhard said. “If the pipeline doesn’t happen, then we look to irrigation and we look to ongoing conservation efforts … We cannot afford to build beyond what our water supply will allow.”

For now, however, city officials believe they have enough water to sustain growth and the economy for the time being yet are planning to obtain more water, Lenhard said. This will be accomplished either through the Lake Powell Pipeline or efforts to stretch existing water supplies via secondary water expansion and reuse water, he said.

Stock image by Mori Kessler, St. George News

It is estimated that up to 60% of the quality drinking water in St. George is used for outdoor watering. Efforts are being made to use secondary, or irrigation quality water, for this instead. New reservoirs are being planned for this purpose.

Economy-wise, up to 30% of the county’s economy is based on growth, Belnap said. This is larger than most communities where it sits more at 12-15%. With water as one of the foundations relied upon for current and future growth, running would have a negative impact on the economy, he said.

“If you were to take out 30% of our economy, you can see that would be a very large hit and would have ripple effects” as businesses that support the construction industry also would be impacted, Belnap said.

As for water conservation, the water district, along with its municipal partners, has invested over $60 million into conservation efforts over the last few years, said Karry Rathje, the water district’s communications director.

Several Washington County cities, including St. George, are crafting new water use ordinances that focus on conservation. Santa Clara is among the first to pass such an ordinance, while other cities continue to hash out the details.

In this file photo, City Manager Adam Lenhard speaks during a City Council meeting at St. George City Hall, St. George, Utah, Dec. 6, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Community Education Channel, St. George News

In St. George, hundreds of thousands of square-feet of non-functional turf has been removed, Lenhard said. The city also managed to save up to 362 million gallons of water between June 1 and Sept. 30 last year. Over 88 million gallons of water also have been conserved through the use of conservation practices at the city’s four golf courses.

At the state level, the Legislature passed multiple water-related bills, some of which earmark up to $500 million into conservation efforts.

Even with these efforts on the local and state level, criticism of the Lake Powell Pipeline continues.

Opponents, particularly Zach Frankel, executive director of the Utah Rivers Council, have called the potentially $2 billion-plus project a boondoggle. He and others have argued that the pipeline makes no sense since the flows in the Colorado River are decreasing and claim that county water officials are lying about how much water the county actually has available.

According to the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center, Lake Powell will receive only 64% of its average water inflow this year. This is due to a lack of snowpack in the mountains that melts into runoff that drains into the Colorado River and it tributaries. Flows on the Colorado River are also estimated to have shrunk by 20% since 2000 due to the ongoing drought and climate change.

In this file photo, a white band of newly-exposed rock along the canyon walls at Lake Powell highlights the difference between today’s lake level and the lake’s high-water mark near Antelope Point Marin near Page, Ariz., July 30, 2021 | AP photo by Rick Bowmer, St. George News

Dropping water levels at Lake Powell have caused the closure of multiple launch ramps across the reservoir and also raised concerns over hydroelectric power generation at Glen Canyon Dam. Lake Powell has dropped below 3,525 feet, which puts it at its lowest level since it was originally filled. If the water levels drop to 3,490 feet, than the reservoir is considered a “deadpool” at which point electrical generation at the dam no longer is viable.

“Anyone who looks at Lake Powell today can see there is no more water for the Lake Powell Pipeline,” Frankel said in an April 7 press release. “It’s time for the (Bureau of Reclamation) to eject this ridiculous boondoggle from federal permitting instead of continuing to deny what climate change is doing to the Colorado River.”

In the April 7 press release, the Utah Rivers Council argues that climate change studies done by the Bureau of Reclamation on the impact to the flow of the Colorado River are based on outdated data and flawed science.

In response to claims there is no more water in the Colorado River to draw from, Belnap is quick to mention the Colorado River Compact, which outlines how much water goes to the individual basin states and how much collectively goes to the Upper and Lower Colorado Basin overall.

A map of the Colorado River Basin | Map courtesy of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, St. George News

The Lower Basin is promised 7.5 million acre-feet of water per year. The Upper Basin states are allocated a percentage of the river after the demands of the Lower Basin are met. For Utah, that is 23%.

Whatever that 23% looks like moving forward, Utah – and therefore the pipeline – must adapt to work within that range, Belnap said.

“The Colorado River isn’t going to zero,” he said. “Less water doesn’t mean no water … It’s just that we have to be realistic about making sure (the pipeline) can function and operate within the bounds of what Mother Nature gives us and in the bounds of Utah’s allocation of the Colorado River.”

Returning to the question of what Washington County could look like without the Lake Powell Pipeline, Belnap said that is for the local communities to decide. The water district will respond to their projected needs for water as able.

“We’ll do what we can to take our existing water supply and squeeze and stretch it as far as possible,” Belnap said.

In this file photo, water levels at the boat launch ramp for Antelope Marina at Lake Powell, April 11, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Susan Kjvj, St. George News

Regarding growth, Lenhard said the city could put a moratorium on building permits – but it would only last for six months under Utah law.

When a local government suspends one of its ordinances, it can only be temporary as the state allows officials six months to figure out how to address whatever issue triggered the moratorium. An example is when St. George paused applications for new car washes in February while the City Council and staff reviewed the city’s water use ordinance.

The city has until July to revise and adopt its water use ordinance, after which new applications to car wash businesses could resume.

St. George has also been in the process of diversifying its economy for several years and has focused on fostering the development of a tech-focused business hub on Tech Ridge.

“I’d say that on a daily basis water is probably the topic we discuss the most,” Lenhard said. “It’s a critical resource.”

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!