The Great Basin Water Network in a recent public records request reveals that Utah’s position on the Vegas water grab changed when Nevada threatened to derail attempts to construct a Lake Powell pipeline to Washington County, Utah. Although it seems Utah initially insisted that the Snake Valley aquifer be split 50-50 this position changed upon the threat from Nevada. Utah Department of Natural Resources Director, Mike Styler, clearly has been inconsistent in how he presents the agreement to the public vs. how he felt about the split in private. It would seem Nevada was successful in arm twisting to the extent that Styler would attempt to persuade Utahns that it was a good deal for them. At this point, Styler seems to have done a 180 and now concedes that its a bad deal for Utah, and that in fact he was happy to see all the comments from Utahns that criticized the deal.

A 2006 memo states that Nevada threatened to take the matter to Congress to change the 2004 law requiring an agreement between the two states since they were dissatisfied with the pace of negotiations. Letters from 2007 indicate that Utah was hesitant to rely on a 50-50 agreement based on the USGS estimate for available aquifer water, which the federal agency said was only 67 percent reliable, and included water used by the plants that now keep Snake Valley soil from blowing straight to the Wasatch Front. At this point it doesn’t seem the state could sell this agreement to Utahns with a straight face. If the agreement were signed by Herbert it would prove that this agreement is about nothing but money and quid pro quo.