Mike Noel’s latest chapter of pitiful proposals manages to conjure up a bill that provides more protections for cattle than it does for the 1 million Salt Lake residents who depend on our Wasatch watershed for drinking water.

Noel’s HB135 transfers responsibility for our watershed to the state, threatening Salt Lake City’s ability to protect our water quality and disrupting a century of stewardship. Noel’s bill even requires Salt Lake City to open our watersheds to grazing. Noel shows he’s more concerned for the pockets of a few speculators in a canyon five hours from his own district than he is the drinking water of millions who rely on the Wasatch watershed.

Visitors to the Wasatch, 1800 species of plant and wildlife, and the quality of our drinking water are about to be sacrificed by Noel in favor of a few property speculators looking to develop in the canyons. Maybe Noel should start paying more attention to his own district instead of muddying the waters of our local watershed.

Tiana Birrell, Salt Lake City

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