Northeast Utah Water Contract Greenlighted by Tenth Circuit

The Bureau of Reclamation sufficiently analyzed the environmental effects of a water contract that gives Utah 72,600 acre-feet of water from Flaming Gorge Reservoir each year, the Tenth Circuit ruled Monday.

The contract “would merely change Utah’s point of diversion of water to which it is already entitled; it does not change or increase the amount of water to which Utah is entitled,” Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich of the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit wrote for the three-judge panel.

The “Green River Block Exchange” contract allows Utah to draw water from releases from the reservoir instead of ...