This letter is in support of the efforts by Southern Utah County and Juab County farmers and ranchers to obtain water from the Central Utah Project (CUP) that is legally and morally theirs. These businesspeople, and stewards of the land, have had equity in the project since the mid-1960's and they are asking that those involved live up to their promises.

Utah and Juab Counties generated more than $116 million dollars in farming output in the year 2000. That is roughly 10 percent of the state's total agricultural farm receipts.

The two counties are major producers of fruit and forage crop for the state. It is a land of opportunity that can offer statewide benefits with additional water resources.

To not complete the project and deliver water to those that have equity in the project would be a breach of public trust.

We have an air quality problem along the Wasatch Front, and I believe continuous and sustained agricultural production in this area will offer an important mitigating solution to that problem. A consistent water supply is critical to that solution.

There is a great environmental contribution available to the state, provided a full and secure water supply is delivered to the landowners. Open space, food production, wildlife habitat, and positive tax base, issues would be enhanced with additional irrigation water to the area.

Perhaps the most important element is the environmental connection between agricultural land and the air. Farmland offers all Utahns a natural air filter and a means to absorb carbon from the environment, a term called carbon sequestration.

The agricultural use of the CUP water will help clean our environment.
According to studies by the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS), agricultural and other crop growing activities contribute to the reduction of green house gasses from our atmosphere. The ARS estimates that each year in the U.S. about one-and-a third billion tons of carbon dioxide are removed from the atmosphere by the photosynthetic activity of agricultural crops. The agricultural use of the CUP water will contribute to this cleansing of CO2 from the Wasatch Front's environment and contribute to the well-being of our residents.

The agricultural use of the CUP water will continue to stimulate
the economies of Utah and Juab counties.

According to the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget, the economic multiplier of agriculture-oriented businesses in Utah offers a greater stimulus than most other industries in the state.

The agricultural use of the CUP water will help keep Utahns-and the rest of the nation-- paying the least for their food than any nation in the world. At ten percent of our income, our food costs are far less than those of the United Kingdom (11.5%), France (16.3%), Japan (19.1%), Russia (30%), or India (53.1%).

The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) strongly recommends the completion of the delivery of the irrigation water from the CUP to the irrigation lands of Southern Utah County and Eastern Juab Counties.

The UDAF also recommends that a wise use of mitigation dollars would assist the funding of the delivery system for these supplemental irrigation supplies.