Longtime Department of Natural Resources Director Mike Styler is retiring at the end of the month, opening up a great opportunity for Utah to change course on its wasteful and expensive water management practices.
Styler has been an ardent supporter of the proposed $3.2 billion Lake Powell Pipeline, which is the largest new proposed diversion of the Colorado River and by far the most expensive state spending proposal on the table. One of Styler’s agencies, the Division of Water Resources, has spent a staggering $38 million pushing the pipeline, regardless of the fact that there is no data showing any need for the water in southwestern Utah.