Utah state officials last month approved the creation of a new city near Moab that has been the focus of intense scrutiny and controversy, ostensibly paving the way for the new locale in the outdoor recreation mecca to take shape. … Foes, though, filed a lawsuit late last week against the project sponsors to halt development of the new municipality, Echo Canyon, charging that they don’t have the needed water rights. They also maintain that the new city, abutting the Colorado River, would “diametrically change” the character of the zone. … While the city’s potential impact on the nature of the area — a major recreational draw in Utah — is a big point of concern for project critics, the suit, filed last Friday, June 27, in Utah’s 7th District Court in Moab, focuses on water rights issues. More specifically, Kane Creek Development Watch and Living Rivers, the nonprofit groups behind the suit, charge that the developers’ water rights have essentially lapsed due to lack of use and the passage of time. 

Other Colorado River Basin news:

• The Colorado Sun (Denver): Colorado finds zebra mussel in Colorado River for second year
• The Colorado Sun (Denver): Opinion: The Colorado River is speaking to us. Are we listening?
• Daily Journal (Los Angeles): Rewriting the river: California’s gamble on the Colorado’s future