A pipeline that would carry Colorado River water 140 miles between Glen Canyon Dam and St. George is under the gun, as federal regulators impose a strict deadline.
Utah officials and other proponents of the Lake Powell pipeline have just two months to convince the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that the project has the $1 billion cost in place.
Whether Utahns can actually afford to build the pipeline has been a central issue in the debate. Kane and Washington county would be the recipients of the water – and are required to repay the state through the purchase of pipeline water over the course of 50 years.