Lake Powell pipeline might be doomed from drought, permitting and design problems
Already in doubt from the West’s changing climate, a proposed pipeline across southern Utah remains bogged in a regulatory limbo that could hold up the project indefinitely. If built, Utah’s 143-mile Lake Powell pipeline would draw up to 86,000 acre-feet of the Colorado River’s flow — depleted by drought and overuse — from the ever-shrinking Lake Powell for use in St. George and Kane County. By the time Utah water bosses clear a stalled environmental review and secure the water rights, however, there may be no Lake Powell as we’ve known it, just a “dead pool” stacked behind Glen Canyon Dam.
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- CBS News: Lake Mead’s water level has never been lower. Here’s what that means.
- Colorado Sun: Column - One small step will save a mile of the Colorado River. A giant leap is needed to save the rest.