The AP’s Sophia Eppolito did a nice job of pulling a single bit of business from a lengthy interview that captured the key point of my thoughts on Utah’s approach to Colorado River governance and water management:
The river supplies Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and Mexico as well as a $5 billion-a-year agricultural industry. As the states face a dire environmental future and negotiations over a new plan to protect the waterway from drought, it’s forced a shift in thinking.
The goal of renegotiating is figuring out how to use less, “not staking out political turf to try to figure out how to use more,” said John Fleck, director of University of New Mexico’s Water Resources Program.
“It’s just not clear Utah has a willingness to do that,” he said.