Ask the Governor to veto an anti-Great Salt Lake bill
As always, there is good news and bad news to report now that the legislative session is over. First, the good news.
Massive public outcry from people like you against two terrible mining bills, HB 502 and SB 172, helped protect local communities. Either one would have greased the skids for the Parley’s mine and made it virtually impossible to stop it.
HB 502 was turned into a study, and SB 172 did not pass the legislature. We still have a long way to go, because we still will have to fight against a looming permit for the Parley’s mine from the Utah Division of Air Quality. But for now we will take a sigh of relief, and profusely thank everyone who reached out to the legislature to stop these bills.
Now the bad news. SB 211 passed the legislature, which our friends at Utah Rivers Council says was “the most destructive water bill of the 2024 legislation session. It is an anti-democratic bill that sets up a powerful council of unelected staff from Utah’s four largest water districts and the Division of Water Resources. This council is exempt from transparency laws, granted the power to recommend how $230 million in taxpayer funds are appropriated, and designated as advisors to the Governor, Senate President, and House Speaker to pitch new legislation to these politicians.” It’s essentially another power grab by legislative leaders, stiff-arming the public, and making decisions behind closed doors.
You can make your voice heard to Governor Cox, who can still veto the bill. While we aren’t optimistic he will, it’s important to let him know what the public thinks about our state government.
Anticipating that neither the legislature nor the governor would do what’s necessary to save Great Salt Lake, and that they might even make things worse with bills like SB211, is why UPHE decided we had to sue the state or the lake would never be saved.
Since these four water districts and the Utah Division of Water Resources are the proponents of the $4-5 billion Bear River Development, that would starve Great Salt Lake of even more water, and the proposed $3-5 billion Lake Powell Pipeline boondoggle, you can rest assured this council will use their new powers to advance these water projects in secret.
The creation of this council resembles what was done to remove public influence over the Utah Inland Ports. An unelected board controlling taxpayer dollars is taxation without representation. Since its creation, the Utah Inland Port Authority has reduced opportunities for public comment, and refused to listen to residents’ concerns. They have no pressure to listen to the public since they are not elected by the public.