On Oct. 28, the U.S. Department of the Interior notified the Utah Board of Water Resources (board) that it has assigned the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) to lead the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance for the Lake Powell Pipeline (LPP) project.

In September 2019, the board announced it eliminated two reservoirs proposed to generate hydropower at times of peak demand. As a result, the licensing requirements of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission no longer applied to the project and the board withdrew the FERC license application. The board subsequently requested that the Department of the Interior appoint Reclamation as the lead federal agency for purposes of completing the NEPA review.

“The division looks forward to working with Reclamation on updating the timeline and cost estimate for the project and completing the Environmental Impact Statement,” said Eric Millis, director of the Utah Division of Water Resources.

The LPP is an approximately 140-mile pipeline that will diversify and enhance water resources for Utah’s fastest growing and driest region by using a small portion of the state’s available Colorado River water right. Visit LPPUtah.org for more information.