SALT LAKE CITY — Governor Spencer Cox said he and his fellow governors of states along the Colorado River have been summoned to Washington D.C. to try to negotiate an agreement.
"I will be going back to D.C., I think towards the end of next week, all the governors are going to be getting together with the Department of Interior to have a discussion there," Gov. Cox said in an interview with FOX 13 News when asked about the status of Colorado River negotiations. "And we know that it's going to be difficult for every state."
Gov. Cox said while each state has their own negotiator, "it will be good to have us all in the room."
The states have been negotiating new agreements to manage the river that supplies water to more than 40 million in the West. But progress has been slow with Upper and Lower Basin states clashing over who cuts what and where. In Las Vegas last month, Trump administration officials warned the states that if they didn't strike an agreement on their own, the federal government might step in and make decisions no one likes.
Feds release plan for Colorado River if states don't strike a deal:
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation offered its own proposed ways to manage the river earlier this month in hopes of prodding the states to a compromise. They have set a Feb. 14 deadline for the states to have a framework agreement.
While expressing some support for negotiations between the governors, House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, told FOX 13 News he wanted to ensure Utah gets its fair share of water.
"They’re using more water than what’s there than what the system is producing," Speaker Schultz said of Lower Basin states. "Upper Basin states? we’re constrained by hydrology. If we don’t get the snow, we don’t get the water? We have to take the cuts."
One environmental group said the U.S. Department of Interior summoning governors to a meeting is a good idea.
"I actually think its a positive sign and kudos to the Trump administration," said Steve Erickson with the Great Basin Water Network. "This is overdue, this sort of 'come to Jesus' meeting over the Colorado River."
Erickson said every state is going to have to reevaluate its position for the sake of 40 million people and the ecology.
"Everybody’s going to have to make some compromises, take some cuts, re-look at the whole system and triggers and thresholds that are needed to sustain it over time," he said.
FOX 13 News reached out to the governors offices in several states to see if they intended to participate in the talks. Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon's office confirmed he would attend. So did Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo's office.
"Water is one of our most precious resources in Colorado and we are doing everything we can to protect it for Coloradans, our communities, and essential industries like agriculture. Conversations remain ongoing around the Colorado River and we remain hopeful that we will reach a sustainable solution for all who depend on the river. He hopes to attend this meeting if it works for the other Governors," a spokesperson for Colorado Gov. Jared Polis told FOX 13 News in an email.
Gov. Cox said the bleak situation facing the Colorado River's hydrology may also spur a deal.
"It adds a sense of urgency, which could be helpful in getting us to down to brass tacks and actually sign an agreement," he said.
Utah's governor also expressed support for an idea to pay California to build more desalination plants along the Pacific Coast in exchange for Colorado River water shares upstream.
But pressed on whether he believes he would actually get a deal between the states or the federal government begins to make a decision, Gov. Cox replied: "I think we'll get a state deal. By the end of our negotiating period, I think everybody realizes there's too much at stake, and we don't want to leave that up to the feds or the courts."
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
