SALT LAKE CITY — The president of the Utah State Senate has an idea he thinks could help states along the Colorado River.
"What we do in Utah is we solve problems and that’s what we’re in the middle of," Senate President J. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said in a recent interview with FOX 13 News.
His idea is to pay California to build more desalination plants along the Pacific Ocean for their water needs. In exchange, they'd give up some shares of water along the Colorado River for Utah and other upstream states to use.
"I don’t look at it as funding California. I look at it as funding water for Utah," Sen. Adams said.
He has been pushing the idea for years now, and one California water district has previously expressed some interest in it. FOX 13 News and the Colorado River Collaborative asked about the status of the Senate President's idea during the recent meetings of the Colorado River Water Users Association in Las Vegas last week, where people seemed at least willing to consider the idea.
"There is no doubt we ought to look at and pursue everything that looks feasible, and perhaps even not quite so feasible," said Gene Shawcroft, the Colorado River Commissioner for Utah. "We've got to stretch our horizons and think outside the box in order to solve some of these problems."
The seven states along the Colorado River have been in high-stakes negotiations over the future of the water supply for more than 40 million people. Everyone is dealing with less water in the river and more demand for it.
"Water recycling, maybe desalination, all of those things are going to be on the table as part of the package," said Jessica Neuwerth, the executive director of the Colorado River Board of California. "We have a new future that we’re looking towards that’s going to be very different from where we are today."
Neuwerth said she would consider the idea — but pointed out that such projects are very expensive and may be a long time from becoming a reality.
"Those are complicated projects that require a lot of analysis and investment and new infrastructure to be built. That’s going to be part of the solution, but it’s not going to be the entirety of the solution," she said.
Asked if she'd be willing to entertain the discussion, Neuwerth replied: "Absolutely."
"I think what we’ve learned in the Lower Basin is that we’re stronger when we work together and doing cross-border projects is part of that more collaborative future," she added.
While it's not a central focus as Utah and the other states continue to hammer out a deal, Shawcroft said it is one of many ideas worth exploring to stretch water resources further.
"Any time we can add water to the system is incredibly important, if that means desal at the end of the system, cloud seeding other things in the in the upper system? I think we ought to look at all of those," he said.
Utah is currently getting paid by other states to do cloud seeding because they can benefit. Nevada partners with California on water reuse projects. Arizona has approved spending money to expand California desalination efforts. Utah could potentially have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to make any desalination dreams a reality.
John Berggren with the environmental group Western Resource Advocates said that while it is good to see the states exploring different ideas and looking at more ways to cooperate as they negotiate the future of the Colorado River, it may not be the best use of taxpayer money.
"In an era of climate change and increasing drought, where there's less and less water available, some folks will be looking to augment their supplies," he said. "We think that while that may seem attractive, actually conservation and just using less water is way more efficient. Costs a lot less money, and you can do it immediately."
Sen. Adams said he has not sought any money for it in the upcoming session of the Utah State Legislature, but would like to see discussions surrounding the idea pick up among the states.
"This is going to be a bigger effort than just California and Utah," he said. "I think it’ll be a national effort. I think the federal government will probably want to get involved in it. This will help Arizona, it’ll help California, it’ll help Nevada, all the western states."
The Trump administration has set a Feb. 14 deadline for the states to come up with a framework agreement to manage the river. If they don't, the acting head of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has warned the feds may step in and make decisions states might not like.
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
