Utah and Idaho water agreement is unsigned, but plan to pump up gas supply is still in place

SALT LAKE CITY (Utah News Dispatch) — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox may have signed a tentative water agreement with Idaho as part of negotiations to end a fight over a gas tax proposal. But, a social media post from Idaho Gov. Brad Little — and his missing signature from the document — suggest that the talks between the states aren’t over.

Little praised the longstanding partnership Idaho has maintained with Utah in a post on X. However, he denied Idaho would give up its water to the Beehive State.

“Let me be 100% clear: Idaho’s water belongs to Idaho,” he wrote. “We will protect it, we will defend it, and we will never surrender it to another state. I will always put Idaho’s interests first!”

What that statement means for the Bear River system memorandum of understanding, which Utah signed Monday, is still a little uncertain. But “tentative” is the word that Utah Department of Natural Resources Executive Director Joel Ferry highlighted when asked about the status of the agreement.

“It was tentative. We’re still working through that, whether it’s this agreement or a different one … we already have agreements in place, and so we’re bound,” Ferry told Utah News Dispatch on Wednesday. 

Little’s office didn’t return a request for comment asking whether he plans on signing the agreement.

According to Ferry, the post was probably responding to misinformation that had been spread about the water deal. “It was misinformation (saying) ‘Utah’s trying to take all of Idaho’s water or some of Idaho’s water.’ We’re not,” Ferry said. “And we are committed, we recognize Idaho’s right to use their water. So it was just setting the record straight.”

The memorandum of understanding Cox signed reaffirmed both states’ commitment to honor the Bear River Compact, a governing framework of Bear River waters between Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. 

The agreement draft emerged after plans from the Utah Legislature to cancel a longstanding tax break for refineries exporting fuel out of state dismayed Idaho lawmakers. Idaho House Speaker Mike Moyle then introduced a resolution condemning the policy and suggested the state could block water flow to the Great Salt Lake to put pressure on Utah, according to FOX 13 and Idaho News 6.

“This was just more of a ‘guys, everybody, remember, we have a compact and we have agreements in place,’ and that’s what this MOU was, just a reaffirmation of what’s already in place,” Ferry said. “The MOU, whether it’s signed or not, these compacts and the settlement agreements are still in place, and they still govern the river.”

Ferry said any changes to the now finalized deal between Utah and refineries to leave its gas tax structure intact are off the table since the two agreements are independent.

“Nothing is in limbo. Nothing has really changed,” Ferry said.

Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Utah News Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor McKenzie Romero for questions: info@utahnewsdispatch.com.