From the Deseret News (Amy Joi O’Donoghue):
A massive probe of the challenges to the Colorado River system enters another phase with a Tuesday meeting in San Diego, where multiple state representatives, the federal government and a 10-tribe Native American partnership look to “what’s next” for the struggling river. At issue is a river system already serving 30 million people that is being sapped by drought, overuse and conservation practices in need of an overhaul — and how that system can be saved to support booming Southwest population growth in the five decades to come.
“We don’t have the solutions yet,” said Utah’s Robert King, who is the state’s Interstate Streams section chief with the Division of Water Resources. “We are still defining the problem. This next phase will help us understand what potential solutions will look like.”
King will join others at the event being held by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation at the U.S. Geological Survey’s California Water Science Center…
Zach Frankel, executive director of the Utah Rivers Council, said Utah would be well-advised to shirk massive river-draining projects in favor of implementing greater conservation strategies. He pointed to the proposed diversion of water from the system in support of the Lake Powell Pipeline project, supported by proponents as a way to meet growth but to also capture Utah’s share of the water that slips into neighboring states. “One of the most important things to think about for the future management of the Colorado is whether Utah will build unnecessary water projects just to keep other states from using the water, or if we are willing to lease our unused waters to other players in the basin and make money,” he said.