Have you noticed the logo the Washington County Water Conservancy District is using to help market the Lake Powell Pipeline proposal? The logo is attractive: a simplified, stylized design, portraying a rusty desert mesa looming over blue waters, with a white water drop in the middle, all accompanied by the catchphrase "Lake Powell Pipeline - Delivering the Future."
Attractive. Simplified. Stylized. Colorful. Yes, indeed, this logo serves effectively as an apt emblem of the entire proposed project to date. This baby is designed to sell.
Why should this matter?
It matters because the logo serves as a rather clear indicator that the district - "a political subdivision of the State of Utah," according to its Web site - has, in market-speak, branded the pipeline project and is actively marketing it.
Is this illegal? Probably not. Is this unethical? Perhaps.
Is this a problem? Definitely!
How many prior WCWCD projects have required market branding and the creation of a logo to help sell their development?
It's at least dubious for this quasi-government agency to be advertising their project while simultaneously posturing - especially to elected officials - that the studies and information they provide are without some bias. And it would be irresponsible for any elected official to assume that the district's studies encompass the only noteworthy, relevant elements worthy of debate with so immense a project.
Undeniably, there are a great many things residents should be thankful for from our water district, but the political machinations our district has used on this project is not one of them. "Delivering the future?" No. That's political spin. The district's job is to deliver water. The future is something much larger and more valuable, and for a community to surrender that to "a political subdivision" is to surrender something very precious indeed.
One of the most deeply researched studies on the history of water development, particularly in the west, is Donald Worster's book "Rivers of Empire: Water, Aridity, and the Growth of the American West." In a section titled "The Capitalist State Mode" - a section that should be required reading for everyone discussing the proposed pipeline - Worster makes this rather stark assertion: "Democracy cannot survive where technical expertise, accumulated capital or their combination is allowed to take command. Accepting the authority of engineers, scientists, economists and bureaucrats along with the power of capital, the common people become a herd. ... Someone decides what they should want ... and what they must accept as reality."
The recent pipeline symposium at Dixie State College again shows residents are willing to engage in a process promoting respectful, earnest debate and dialog about the complexities of the pipeline proposal. Coming some 17 years after the pipeline idea was first proposed, genuine community dialogue has really only recently begun.
We can all dream about the future. Engaging in the protracted wrangling of a genuine democratic process is still probably the best way to deliver it.
Glen Bessonette is a resident of Ivins.
