During the past few months, the Washington County Water Conservancy District has been requesting rights of way across federal land to construct a pipeline from Lake Powell.
The water would flow from the lake to a yet-to-be built reservoir near Hurricane.An environmental impact statement likely will be needed to determine whether the project would conform with federal and tribal laws.
"We will meet with the district in the near future to discuss their application," said Bureau of Land Management spokesman Don Banks.
Environmentalists so far are divided on the project. Some say it will lead to the "Los Angeles-ization" of St. George, while others are intrigued by the pipeline's potential for adding water to an overtapped Virgin River, the county's primary water source.
Among those opposing the pipeline is Robert Owens, who led a defeated initiative a few years ago that would have limited growth in Washington County to 3 percent. The county's current population of 73,000 has grown by more than 33 percent since 1990 and is expected to double in another 20 years.
"(The pipeline) will create a megalopolis from Lake Powell to Kanab across the desert to St. George. It will cause a quantum leap on growth," said Owens, a retired state judge.
Morgan Jensen, environmental coordinator for the water district, said, "I don't have any response to (Owens' viewpoint). That's the same old stuff."
According to the Lake Powell Pipeline Feasibility Study, commissioned by the water district and the state Division of Water Resources, demand for water in Washington County will exceed supply by the year 2005. The Sand Hollow Reservoir, to be built near Hurricane to store water from the Virgin River, will help meet demand until about 2015.
After that, the county will need new sources, with the Lake Powell pipeline high on the list.
The pipeline would begin in Wahweap Bay, where a 10-megawatt pump would force water 1,000 feet uphill over a 20-mile stretch. From there, the water would drop in elevation slightly before a second pump would push it 1,200 feet higher to an elevation of 5,650 feet over a six-mile stretch.
From that point, the water would flow downhill for 90 miles to Washington County, where it would empty into the Sand Hollow Reservoir.
Officials have not yet determined the diameter of the pipeline, but the study assumed a 51-inch pipeline capable of delivering 60,000 acre feet of water per year. One acre foot is the amount of water a typical family consumes in a year.
The cost of the project is estimated at between $187 million and $212 million, according to the study, which was completed in 1995. Jensen said the district has not determined how it would pay for the pipeline, but the funding likely would be a combination of state and local sources.