Central Utah Project fed Wasatch Front growth but left some eastern Utah storage unbuilt
The Ute Indian Tribe says reservoirs promised under a 1965 agreement were never completed, and courts have dismissed its claims as filed too late.
Based on reporting by KUER 90.1 (NPR Utah). Read the original story →
Continuing story: The Colorado River and Utah's waterThe Central Utah Project and Utah's Colorado River water imports
The Central Utah Project, which carries Colorado River Basin water from eastern Utah to the Wasatch Front, has helped the region grow while leaving some promised water storage in the Uintah Basin unbuilt, KUER reported in a series on Utah's transbasin diversions produced with The Salt Lake Tribune and KSL. [1]
The project has served some farmers well. Trent and Eileen Potter of Duchesne had steady irrigation this year despite poor runoff after a record-poor winter, thanks to project water stored in Starvation Reservoir. Troy Ovard, area manager for the Central Utah Water Conservancy District, said the reservoir was built to replace water sent west and to add storage for dry years. Trent Potter said the project has been good for them but that there are "mixed feelings" about it in eastern Utah. [1]
Other promises went unmet. Under a 1965 agreement, the Ute Indian Tribe agreed to wait to develop some of its water rights and not to interfere with construction of the project, and a 40-year window was set for finishing other phases, including reservoirs that would have stored water for the tribe. A 1968 law called for a plan for a "Ute Indian unit" by the end of 1974, but that unit and others were never built. Congress's 1992 Central Utah Project Completion Act ended the proposed reservoirs and set aside nearly $200 million for a tribal development fund, a farming and feedlot operation and improvements to some wildlife and recreation facilities. [1]
The tribe has gone to court since then, and courts have repeatedly dismissed its claims about the project as filed after the statute of limitations had passed, according to rulings. After a 2021 ruling in federal court in Washington, D.C., the tribe said the United States could not both control its waters administratively and argue it has no enforceable liability for managing them. Forrest Cuch, a tribal member and former director of the Utah Division of Indian Affairs, told KUER, "The state just robbed us of both our land and water." [1]
Sources
This story was written by AI from the report by KUER 90.1 (NPR Utah), which has the full story. How we write stories.