The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has released a Lake Powell Pipeline Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the multi-billion dollar water boondoggle to send Colorado River water to the Saint George area.
An appendix on environmental justice, submitted by the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians eloquently opposes the project with these words: “All elements of the Earth are special and have their creation-defined purpose. Some are especially powerful and central in the integration of life. Among these are the Colorado River, the veins of mother earth moving the essential element water. At Creation the Colorado River’s place and purpose was defined. The LPP project proposes to remove the Colorado River from its appropriate place and to move it elsewhere to be used in different ways. This action will make the river angry and confused, the results of which are unknown but clearly a source of imbalance in the world.”
This Indigenous viewpoint corresponds with scientific documentation that over the long term, negative impacts of large water projects far outweigh immediate benefits.
Online public meetings are scheduled for July 8 and 9, 2020 at 6pm MDT. Send comments on the Draft EIS by September 8, 2020 to lpp@usbr.gov
Lake Powell Pipeline Project EIS HERE.
This is an excerpt from our July Environews column. View the full article here.