Government transparency is not given. It is earned.
We often make reasonable requests of officials throughout the region. And, routinely, government agencies tell us that elements of water-related decisionmaking cannot be made public. It’s frustrating, but not dejecting.
Since the Freedom of Information Act passed in 1966, the federal government grapples with how it discloses government actions to the concerned public. This tension has only
intensified in the 21st Century. The same can be said for state and local entities operating under their own open-government laws.
Some requests can take hundreds of days to fulfill. And the government doesn’t always provide everything that’s desired after a long wait. Information that was once routinely posted online is now the subject of requests. Documents discussed in public meetings are kept under lock and key. Contracts and relationships between private entities and public agencies are blurrier than ever.
With the Cedar City Pipeline’s recent approval, we are accelerating our demands for information as the next steps in the process unfold.
After
filing four
FOIA requests in a 24-hour period this week, we just wanted to share with you that GBWN exercises our collective rights on your behalf — for the greater good. The need for information is vital — but not just for the public to better understand functions of government. The data, memos, emails, and other chronicles of agency actions we seek help inform us about the functions of the natural world and our economic atmosphere. These are not the first or last attempts to get information that we are entitled to on this project. But actions we took this week are good steps in a multi-pronged strategy.
We are reviewing the science, the laws, and the scope of the project’s desert-based desecration. And, in the process, we are realizing that so much more information is needed to ensure accountability from the elected and unelected officials who approved and championed this project.
One irony here is that the action of some governments will impact others. County and tribal governments face irrevocable harms but cannot yet access all the information they need to understand the consequences of the Cedar City Pipeline’s long-term effects. Many of our allies are left in the dark right now about why their government is hanging them out to dry in the desert. We hope that changes.
What’s undeniable is that the federal government acted inconsistently with principles of fairness and due process by approving the project.
Those federal regulators gave citizens a weekend to review an 800+ page technical document after a 3-year pause in the process — limiting our ability to meaningfully engage and understand changes that had been made behind closed doors. The project proponents, water managers in Iron County, applauded the disgraceful approval despite the limited public review and inadequate impacts analysis. Their cheers exemplify what they think about your rights.
Certainly, the BLM approved a document that’s riddled with precarious assumptions about water resources. But what’s not included is even more frightening. There’s an absence of evidence to justify and substantiate this groundwater grab.
There’s so much we need to see. Your support makes our demands possible. The attorneys, technical experts, county partners, tribal leaders, and partnering NGOs are all working for the same goal. GBWN’s expertise and connections make this collaboration possible. Transparency cannot happen without you.
While
filing a
FOIA isn’t an enormous act, the act of actually getting the information can feel sisyphean. Democracy does die in darkness. What makes it so hard to swallow is that the shadowy behavior is happening in broad daylight.
We might not get everything we want. But we will never stop trying.
See the latest from GBWN on the pipeline approval: 
