SALT LAKE CITY — A new caucus has formed in the Utah State Legislature to monitor bills and advocate for the state's interests on the Colorado River.
Rep. Scott Chew, R-Jensen, told FOX 13 News he formed the Colorado River Caucus on Utah's Capitol Hill made up of lawmakers whose districts are along the river and its tributaries. He has run legislation seeking to defend Utah's interests in the high-stakes political negotiations over the water that provides life for more than 40 million people in the West.
So far, the states are at an impasse on a multi-state deal to determine who gets what. There is more demand than there is supply in the river, which could be headed toward a system-wide crash. The Trump administration has urged a states-led deal but threatened to move ahead with its plan to manage the river. The Utah State Legislature this year began socking away money into a fund for the potential for litigation while asking Congress to defund any state that launches litigation at another state over the river.
"Let's get something figured out," Rep. Chew said of the negotiations. "You know, Lake Powell’s dry. Lake Mead's hurting and we're dumping water out of Flaming Gorge. We need to make some decisions and yeah, not everybody's going to be happy, but we at least need to get started somewhere."
Utah's legislature has a number of subject-matter caucuses to shepherd bills and represent interests. There is the Great Salt Lake Caucus, which has acted as a clearinghouse for legislation on that issue; the Clean Air Caucus that advocates for air-quality legislation; a rural caucus focused on land issues; and even some (like the "Buckshot Caucus") that poke a little fun at politics in Utah.
Steve Erickson, who lobbies on Utah's Capitol Hill for the Great Basin Water Network, said he didn't really have strong feelings about the newly-formed Colorado River Caucus.
"I suspect that Rep. Chew doesn't fully trust the leadership of the state Authority and the water districts to look out for ag interests. Probably reasonable to have a little caucus to be a check on the big buffaloes," he told FOX 13 News in a text message, referencing the "water buffaloes," a nickname on Utah's Capitol Hill for major water district lobbyists.
Rep. Chew said he wanted to ensure people in his part of the state are represented on the Colorado River. He said he does have faith in the Colorado River Authority of Utah and its negotiators to represent the state's interests.
"We hear all our lives about how water is something you fight over and we know our ancestors did, but they actually got something accomplished," he said. "And it seems like we're not getting much done with the negotiations, and we felt like maybe we could have a little bit of influence."
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
