The Utah Legislature is underway — and that means powerful interests are seeking to undermine important elements of water law. HB60 is supported by powerful lawmakers and the state engineer. Some people say it is an attempt to attack the Public Trust Doctrine litigation currently in Utah Courts. Others say it is addressing a few points related to our litigation with Living Rivers over the Green River lithium proposal. However, we know HB60 will impact every single water permit request moving forward.
Please tell lawmakers on the committee to oppose the bill. The proposal is moving out of committee. But there are conversations among lawmakers about working on amendments. There is hope we can make this better. As written the legislation does the following:
- The legislation impacts the standards for public engagement on water rights applications — making it hard for non-water-rights holders to meaningfully engage on dangerous permit requests.
- The legislation removes the ability for State Engineers to consider stream flow and recreation when considering permitting requests.
- The legislation changes the standard for accessing the courts for members of the public battling decisions from state regulators.
- The legislation limits what a regulator or judge would consider the “public welfare,” an important standard for water rights permitting.
- The legislation raises questions about due process and transparency.
- The legislation allows water regulators to punt responsibility over water matters to other agencies without including criteria and protocols for the state to abrogate its obligations to water users.
- This will impact permitting everywhere in the state. The legislation impacts future permit requests on the Great Salt Lake, Colorado River System and every aquifer in the state. And it could likely impact the Public Trust Doctrine case, the Green River case, and others.
- However, it is worth noting that the Utah State Engineer handles at least 1000 permit applications and permit modification requests every year. Very few of those requests end in litigation. This bill is not addressing the real problem: There’s not enough water for all the new industrial uses being proposed.
