SALT LAKE CITY — The Central Utah Project, which supplies water to millions of Utahns, may not see as deep of budget cuts as expected.
A stunning $609 million cut singling out the project and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation appeared in President Trump's proposed budget. It perplexed Utah political leaders and environmental groups, who questioned why the Central Utah Project would even be singled out when it is largely completed and doesn't have a budget that big.
The U.S. Department of Interior now tells FOX 13 News the cut is more broadly geared toward the Bureau of Reclamation. The agency clarified on Wednesday the budget framework is a high-level proposal and does not contain specific project-level funding decisions.
It is still unclear how the Central Utah Project got included in the budget reductions.
This article is published through the Colorado River Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative supported by the Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, and Air at Utah State University. See all of our stories about how Utahns are impacted by the Colorado River at greatsaltlakenews.org/coloradoriver
