A proposal to strip cities of their ability to protect nearby sources of drinking water ran into opposition, so the legislator behind the idea changed it to ask cities to help fund big Utah water projects, like the proposed Lake Powell Pipeline, instead.
The controversial bill, HB135, originally took aim at the authority Utah’s cities wield over watershed areas. But a substitute released late Thursday by Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, would allow municipalities to protect some of the land around rivers and streams that flow into drinking water systems.
It would also let the state’s water suppliers add a $1 fee to customers’ water bills to pay for drinking water projects.