Biden arriving in Utah

With thanks to our sponsor

Brigham Young University

Biden is in Utah Wednesday to raise money and promote the PACT Act, a bill that expands health care coverage to veterans exposed to toxic burn pits.

It’s unknown if he will bring up another critical water issue in Utah: the fate of the Great Salt Lake.

Though water scarcity is a perennial problem in the West, the shrinking of the Great Salt Lake exists on a whole other plane of urgency. Utah is trying to arrive at solutions and Brad Blanch may be one of them.

Blanch, who lives at the far reaches of western Weber County, inherited land once owned by his grandfather and used for alfalfa and onions. Over the years he has also acquired more property, including two parcels of 160 acres and 60 acres, but has never utilized the land to farm.

So, Blanch's 500-acre feet of water flowed by entirely unused. That is until he contacted the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust to dedicate some of his water rights to help save the Great Salt Lake.

Following the passage of HB33 in 2022, water rights can now be leased to the Great Salt Lake and still be considered "beneficial use." In Blanch’s case, this allows him to put his unused water to use and still hang onto it for future plans he might have.

Biden visit: Romney, Lee have ‘no plans’ to see the President in Utah

As President Joe Biden arrives in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, two notable Utahns will be absent: Sens. Mike Lee and Mitt Romney.

Romney spokesperson Arielle Mueller told the Deseret News that Romney “has no plans to meet with President Biden” during his visit to Utah. Lee spokesperson Jordan Roberts concurred, noting Lee “will not be attending Biden’s speech Thursday.”

The Senate is in its August recess until Sept. 5, providing members with a “state work period.”

The senators’ decision is a deviation from precedent, as Utah’s senators have frequently welcomed sitting presidents as they visit the state. In 2017, when former president Donald Trump announced drastic reductions to national monuments at the Utah State Capitol, he was joined onstage by Sens. Orrin Hatch and Lee, both of whom traveled with him from Washington, D.C., on Air Force One.

When former president Barack Obama visited Utah in 2015, Sens. Hatch and Lee greeted him on the tarmac at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden. And in 2006, when former president George W. Bush addressed the American Legion National Convention, he was joined at the Salt Palace by Sens. Hatch and Bob Bennett.

Read more about Biden's schedule in Utah today and tomorrow.

More in Politics

FROM OUR SPONSOR BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY

BYU Students Are Saving Newborns, One Breath at a Time

Thanks to a low-cost ventilation machine developed by students at BYU, infants in developing countries like Cambodia can keep breathing. Discover how Brigham Young University strives to be a benefit to the world by serving others in need.

Health

Faith

Education

Business

Utah County

Summit and Beaver Counties

The West

The Nation

The World

Sports