Includes Utah Land Sale Which Could be Used for Controversial Pipeline to Take Water from Colorado River
WASHINGTON, D.C.— U.S. Representatives Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) and Susie Lee (D-Nev.) released the following statement in response to Rep. Mark Amodei’s (R-Nev.) proposed amendment to sell off public lands.
Several parcels marked for sale line up with the proposed pathway identified for the controversial Lake Powell Pipeline, a water diversion project in Utah that could derail fragile conversations concerning post-2026 operating guidelines for the Colorado River. In 2020, six of the seven Colorado River basin states warned the Department of the Interior that fast-tracking an environmental review of the pipeline could jeopardize cooperation and potentially lead to multi-year litigation.
“Last week, in the middle of the night, Congressman Mark Amodei led House Republicans in advancing legislation to pay for their tax-breaks-for-billionaires bill by selling off public lands in Nevada and Utah.
We’ve now been alerted by Arizona and Nevada water managers that the public land to be sold in Utah could be used to develop a long-proposed and highly controversial water pipeline from Lake Powell to Washington County, Utah.
Six of the seven Colorado River Basin states—that is, all the Basin states but Utah—have previously highlighted ‘outstanding legal and operational concerns raised by the proposed Lake Powell Pipeline project.’
We are calling on Congressman Amodei and House Republicans to immediately withdraw this reckless public land sale proposal which looks to be a Trojan horse to steal Nevadans’ and Arizonans’ water.”