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Show JULY event center » 1996 SOUNDING a BOARD Park City Mayor Has a Fan Tickets at all Art Tix locations or call Blues-Friday July 26, 6pm Otis Rush Chris Duarte Kelly Joe Phelps. Jazz-Saturday July 27, 5pm Dianne Reeves Joey DeFrancesco Without the sixth page without finding something criticizing or accusing the mayor written there. I find it quite ironic that neither the accusations nor the criticism against Mayor Brad Olch are based in fact. If the articles had a sentence worth of truth in them, that would be a miracle. I feel that you are lazy and publish only what you hear in hope Coolers on lawn seating only Covered seating is on a first Battle of the Saxes come, Pepe) ct eect BOBBY MCFERRIN-August 22 first served basis. no exchanges. pln fail, every time I read The Mountain Times in the last year, I have not made it further than about Overnight packages from $75 per person, double occupancy. Includes room, show ticket, tram ride, continental breakfast, and tennis. For packages call: 800-453-3000. All sales final, ALSO ON SALE NOW RAY CHARLES- August 21 Editor: Very rarely do I pay attention to the political controversies in and around Park City. On occasion, | listen to KPCW or read the newspaper. ee no that someone as naive and biased as you will believe it. The subjects you write about could be informative if you did a little research to find out the truth behind the rumors. For some reason you feel that it is necessary to bring the mayor into things concerning members of his family, when the matters have nothing to do with him. Mayor Olch has had many great accomplishments during his six-anda-half years in office and I know I am not alone in wishing that you would focus on these things and try a little optimism, rather than the fictional stories you are telling now. — Whitney Olch, age 16 Virgin River Pork Barrel MUSEUM UTAH MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS . 1580 EAST SOUTH CAMPUS STORE _Editor: In an article on the Virgin River in your June issue, writer Lynn Chamberlain stated perfectly the DRIVE . UNIVERSITY OF UTAH . 581-7049 pork barrel purpose of water development on the Virgin River: “The livelihoods of many people depend = UTAH MUSEUM De UTAH MUSEUM THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS . 1580 EAST SOUTH THE CAMPUS PARADISE CAMPUS STORE DRIVE . UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS . 1580 EAST SOUTH on the continued development and use of the waters of the Virgin River.” Unfortunately, the article presumes this use to be a need rather than merely a desire. Washington County dam builders run a business that makes money just like any other company, except of course they also receive state and local tax money. The author seemed to assume that more water development in the Virgin River is essential for existence. In reality, the county’s water use is one of the highest in the United States, at more than twice the nation- OF UTAH . 581-7049 STORE DRIVE . UNIVERSITY al average. Much of this stems from OF UTAH . 581-7049 the ridiculously low price of the area’s water. St. George’s water rates are one of the lowest in the West, lower than all 44 arid cities surveyed in a Las Vegas study. These low water rates are central PAVED The Challenge of Growth in the New West to ensuring that water use remains high. Why? Because it makes justifying $50 million dams on the Virgin River easier if people BY RAYE C. RINGHOLZ PHOTOGRAPHS BY K. C. MUSCOLINO are told there minimum are not synonymous. The agreed upon minimum flow of 45 cubic feet per second in Quail Creek is often violated for the golf courses and irrigation ditches of Washington County. Perhaps most unsettling about Chamberlain’s article was the misstatement that local and state agencies have formed a conservation agreement to preserve the habitat of the Virgin River fish. The truth is that the Washington County Water District (aka Dam Builders Inc.) had become aggravated about not having their dams approved immediately upstream of Zion National Park. Thus the dam builders turned to the state to try and arrange an agreement that would allow them to make money by damning the Virgin, while magi- cally not impacting river habitat for native fish. The conservation agreement is merely a thinly-veiled attempt to circumvent endangered species requirements to divert.more of the Virgin River for the whims of Washington County dam builders. To most people, endangered species are indicators of ecosystem decline and the sterilization of the natural world. To Washington County dam builders, endangered are no other options. Although water species means another phone call to conservation costs less than building literally 10 times additional dams, Utah's Congressional delegation to get water are deliverers reluctant to the feds off our backs, The worst statement Chamber- invest in water conservation. Which would you rather receive, a $50 million dam contract or a $300,000 water conservation contract? It’s a shame that endangered fish requirements are all that stand in the way of the dam builders and the lain made was that the fish are common throughout the Colorado River. This is utterly false. Before we began Written by long-time Parkite Raye Ringholz. money in my wallet. River “This book should be read by every county commision, every town and city council in the West, and read soon!” —Bill Riebsame, U. of Colo. when through Utah. If the fish die off here, he stated that irrigation companies they will most likely die off everywhere. — Zach Frankel, Utah Rivers Council An even-handed exploration of the issues and conflicts surrounding growth and development in a land traditionally known for wide-open spaces and unlimited opportunity. University of Utah Press Chamberlain was correct have agreed to leave a minimal flow of water. Of course, minimal and (800) 773-6672 PAGE 4 damning every river we could, the fish were common throughout the river. Now the fish are making their last stand at existence in the Virgin Basin, most of which flows |
