Desert pipeline tests Colorado River's future

Simple economics indicate that if people in southwest Utah paid more for their water, they would use less. "Water use in Utah is subsidized, mostly by property taxes," said Gabriel Lozada, an associate professor of economics at the University of Utah who has extensively modeled the Lake Powell Pipeline project. "So people in urban areas don't see what the right price of water is. Unsurprisingly, Utah urban dwellers use a lot more water. The price of water we face is way way too low."

Washington County residents will eventually have to pay for the new pipeline, after the state fronts the construction costs. That, says Lozada, in turn would raise water rates — thus obviating the need for the pipeline as residents use less water. The possibility of rising prices leading to more conservation, and thus less demand, has not factored, at least publicly, into the developers' considerations.

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