A 97-year-old agreement demands that the river deliver 5.2 trillion gallons of water to seven states and Mexico each year. That isn’t happening, and now — in the age of climate change — the chance of ever meeting that demand is fading.
As a result, Utah’s plan to take more of its Colorado River water — by building a pipeline from Lake Powell to St. George — may be fading, too.
Utah officials won’t admit that. In the American West, water rights have always been a fight to the finish. The issue all along has been that Utah has a legal claim to more Colorado River water than it uses.