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Show CUP lacks trust It's not hard to understand why the leaders of our local communities don't have much trust in the good will of the Central Utah Water Conservancy District when, by appearances ap-pearances at least, Central Utah Project officials continue to offer concessions they can't provide. The most recent , example came last week when a representative for Lehi City appeared at the CUWCD board meeting asking" lot a turnout on the Jordan Aqueduct-Reach 4 so Lehi could use the pipeline lo bring some of the city-owned water in Deer Creek Reservoir to the city. It was obvious that the district's board of directors was puzzled that the city would even make such a request, especially after one board member pointed out that the Salt Lake Water Conservancy District intended to buy the J-4 pipeline when it was completed so it could be used for more than CUP water at a price tag totallying $88 million. Robert Hilbert, who serves on the CUP board and is manager of the Salt Lake County group, was emphatic that that the Salt Lake County district didn't want and wouldn't pay for a pipeline that had been tapped before it reached its destination. And that's the district's prerogative. But Lehi Mayor George Tripp, who made the request, was working under other assumptions - mainly the assumption that the turnout was one of the measures that the CUWCD would approve in return for Lehi's granting an easement across a city water line. The district had to have the easement before the J-4 could be built. At least he felt staff members had made that assurance when the city signed the easement. But when he went to the Bureau of Reclamation, who is building the pipeline, to make good on what he thought was a gentleman's agreement, he was referred to the board. And while the board referred the matter to a committee for further study, there is little doubt that the request will be granted. The Salt Lake County Water Conservancy District will call the shots on this issue, since they are carrying $88 million in leverage. The problem isn't that the board acted wrongly, but that Lehi officials were led to believe the board would give them something it had no intention of delivering. And those assurances came, not from the board, but from the individuals in-dividuals bartering for the easements over city-owned water lines. And to add to the discomfort, it's not the first time it's happened. The CUWCD is dealing with a group of parents in Salt Lake County who felt like CUP staff members promised them some help in building a park over an earth-covered earth-covered storage tank when the district's directors had no intention of giving any such help. The misunderstandings may not be intentional, but they are there. And as long as people dealing with the CUP get promises from the individuals who don't make the decisions only to be turned down by the people who have the power, the district will continue to have a hard time instilling trust in the public. |