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<br />you're in the federal goverrunent, you <br />simply don't do that You've got to go <br />through the damdest process imagin- <br />able," <br />Robison also contended that critidsm <br />of the Bureau's record on the environ- <br />mentwaspremature, "Sometirnes, it isn't <br />possible to spend money in tandem for <br />construction, recreation, and fish and <br />wildlife," he said, <br />Nevertheless, the Bureau is bracing for <br />the possibility that it soon may be passin~ <br />the CUP baton to the District. <br />'We have offered the District our com- <br />plete cooperation in this undertaking, <br />whatever files and documents we have," <br />Robison said, "Isav that because there are <br />reports that the Bureau is acting out of <br />spite, and that we're not cooperating, <br />That simply is not the case," <br />The Central Utah Water Conservancy <br />District's tiny staff (13 in its Orem head- <br />quarters, 35 statewide) also is bracing for <br />the expected onslaught. <br />"The board has authorized $1 million <br />in this year's budget to get things going," <br />said general manager Don Christiansen, <br />However, rather than create its own bu- <br />reaucracy, the District plans to award <br />much of the work to outside consultants, <br />Christiansen said. <br />Like the Bureau, the District has had <br />its share of bad press latelv, A 1989 per- <br />fonnance audit, conducted bv the office <br />of the Utah legislative auditor general, <br />raised questions about some of the <br />district's accounting. financial planning, <br />and management practices, A sample: <br />staff members were flying first class, <br />Large sums were bemg spent on consul- <br />tants. lobbyists, and attornevs ($362,000 <br />in 1988) without written contracts, An- <br />other $2.400 went for raft trips on the <br />Green River. And the 19-member board <br />was stacked with representatives of the <br />water industry, <br />A follow-up a year later showed that <br />the District had responded to most of the <br />questions raised in 1989. Accounting and <br />planning procedures had been revised, <br />Employees were flying coach, <br />However, Christiansen defended the <br />controversial raft trip as "one sweet piece <br />of public relations." He noted that the <br />passenger list included many influential <br />water leaders, one of whom would later <br />become assistant secretary of the Interior, <br />another of whom would become com- <br />missioner of the Bureau, "That little in- <br />vestment has paid off far beyond our <br />ability to count." <br />AS for the composition of the board, <br />that is out of the District's control, he said, <br /> <br />Members are selected by the governor <br />and ratified by the state Senate horn a lis, <br />of candidates nominated bv individual <br />county commissions, 'The governor and <br />the legislature are going to have to agree <br />on a change in the process," he said, <br />"I don't think anvbodv could find <br />that we have done 'anything fraudu- <br />lently. We've gotto hove a spotless public <br />image, If that bill goes through, hun- <br />dreds of millions of dollars will go <br />through this district, and we will be <br />under public scrutiny forever," <br /> <br />BEYOND THE CUP <br />One irony in the historv of the Central <br />Utah Project is that. in spite of its name, <br />no project water yet has been delivered <br />south of Utah Lake. That could change, <br />The Garn-Owens bili allocates $150 mil- <br />lion to help build a pipeline to <any CUP <br />water to the Sevier Bridge Reservoir. <br />From there, the water would be made <br />available for irrigation, either directly or <br />through exchanges. <br />However, construction of the pipeline <br />is far horn a sure thing, even if the bill <br />passes. In addition to providing another <br />$80 million in matching funds, local inter- <br />ests must show signed contracts guaran- <br />teeing the purchase of 90 percent of the <br />water before work can begin, <br />And if they don't? Well, the bill also <br />addresses that possibility by allocating $2 <br />million to study ways to deliver CUP <br />water directlv to the Provo River, One <br />such option ";ould be the so-called Walls- <br />burg Tunnel, which would take CUP <br />water from StrawberrY Reservoir and <br />dump it into Deer Creek Reservoir, In <br />other words. instead of irrigating centra; <br />Utah fannland, the water would quench <br />the growing thirst of communities along <br />the Wasatch Front. <br />But some observers. like envirorunen- <br />talist Sam Rushforth, question the sanity <br />of encouraging more growth in an area <br />already suffering from the svmptoms of <br />congestion. <br />"Look at our urban problems," he <br />said, "They are overwhelming, The last <br />thing we want to do is keep pumping <br />water in so we can grow larger," , <br />Regardless of the final form taken by <br />the CUP, that argument will, no doubt, <br />surface again in the context of yet another <br />large water project. State agencies aI- <br />read y are discussing plans for a series of <br />reservoirs on the Bear River in southern <br />Idaho and northern Utah, <br />When measured in terms of water de- <br />livered to the Wasatch Front, proponents <br />say, it could be even bigger than the CUP . <br /> <br />1iH~exIC.. Grin <br /> <br />(,I C..ti.. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />... <br /> <br /> <br />Serving the West authentic <br />Sonoran Cuisine since 1984 <br /> <br />Sun Deck <br /> <br />Fresh Seafood our speciality <br />Chimichangas, Fajitas <br />Catering <br /> <br />Open 7 Days A Week <br /> <br />3300 South Highland Dr. <br />466-0054 <br /> <br />V AMP <br /> <br />"'"'.'" ~-'~' . '.1' <br />?t.~.~;,~.::,',.. ,,;..rr' .il:'{ <br />,~~ _ ,n' .._.~.;:.~,. <br /> <br />~', ~.. 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