SALT LAKE CITY — Another hazard of Lake Powell's declining levels.
The Utah State Legislature's Interim Transportation Committee voted on Wednesday to begin exploring letting go of the Lake Powell Ferry, which Utah's Department of Transportation has run. But the ferry hasn't operated for years because of low lake levels.
Sen. Ron Winterton, R-Roosevelt, said it's costing a lot of money — about $500,000 a year.
"It's run its course," said Rep. Mike Petersen, R-Logan. "And I don't like spending taxpayer dollars to continue doing something we're not getting. We're just sending good money after bad."
To restore the boat ramps to a lower level so the ferry could operate, more than $20 million would need to be spent. Then an additional $1.5 million for hull work on the boat.
When it was operating, the Charles Hall Ferry would shepherd people across Lake Powell for $25 a vehicle.
Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, lamented the loss of the ferry but said "it hasn't run in years and hasn't run reliably in more years than that." She said she wanted local input before proceeding and hoped money could be shifted to nearby communities.
Lake Powell dropped to a historic low on Saturday, hit by drought that has put the entire Colorado River system in crisis. To prop up Lake Powell and keep it generating power for millions in the West, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is taking up to a million acre feet of water from Flaming Gorge upstream, as well as withholding water to Lake Mead in Nevada.
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
