Western Groups Ask USDA Inspector General to Investigate Mike Noel’s Proposed Reservoir
A Coalition seeks an investigation into an NRCS proposal for $22 million in taxpayer funding and whether it violates federal law.
The project’s purpose was supposedly to benefit agriculture, but the ‘farmlands’ it identified were actually strip malls, subdivisions, and churches.
A coalition of seven organizations have released a letter today seeking an investigation by the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to determine whether federal law has been violated in the permitting for the proposed Cove Dam, upstream of Zion National Park on the East Fork of the Virgin River.
Proponents of the dam claimed the project was for agriculture, allowing these Utah water agencies to access $22 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But the agricultural land was exaggerated in total acreage and most of the land identified in the permit documents are municipal subdivisions, public schools, and include the site of a new LDS Temple under construction.
If the project purpose was identified as being for these urban water uses, no more than $8-10 million in taxpayer funding could be accessed and all of it would have to be repaid with interest (instead of being a $22 million gift). The proponents are the Kane County Water District and the Washington County Water District.
The proposed dam and reservoir will impound water from the East Fork of the Virgin River, upstream of Utah’s prized Zion National Park. Two endangered species, the Woundfin and Virgin River Chub, are at risk of extinction.
The letter to the Office of Inspector General has been signed by the following organizations: Utah Rivers Council, Center for Biological Diversity, WildEarth Guardians, Great Basin Water Network, Living Rivers Colorado Riverkeeper, Save the Colorado, and Glen Canyon Institute.
The proposed project area in Washington County is clearly municipal in nature, as is visible from google aerial images. Site visits were also conducted to acquire B Roll video and still pictures.