… [Starvation Reservoir] was one of the first reservoirs the Bureau of Reclamation built for the Central Utah Project — an expansive system of dams, diversions, tunnels and pipelines that takes water from eastern Utah’s Colorado River Basin to western Utah’s Wasatch Front. Starvation keeps water in the Uintah Basin, though, compensating for water lost to the state’s biggest cities. Most of that water goes to irrigate fields and some fills taps across Duchesne County. … The Central Utah Project and other transbasin diversions have helped the Wasatch Front boom. But Colorado River tributaries were left with less water, harming habitat for fish. And while some farmers benefit from Starvation Reservoir and other storage projects, some promised reservoirs were never built, leaving other areas of the Uintah Basin, including the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, without adequate water storage, ongoing bitterness and legal fights.

Other Colorado River management news:

• Arizona Republic (Phoenix): Tribes weigh legal action against feds over Colorado River cutbacks
• ABC15 (Phoenix): Scottsdale faces a 17% cut to its Colorado River water supply, but residents won’t feel it right away
• KOLD (Tucson, Ariz.): Doug Burgum speaks on Colorado River cuts
• Tucson Local Media (Ariz.): Understanding Marana’s $3.7M water purchase
• Los Angeles Times: Opinion: The Arizona-Nevada-California water war is heating up, and all three states will end up parched