By Ben McMurdo | The Moab Times-Independent

A lawsuit alleging the water rights claimed by the Echo Canyon development — formerly known as Kane Springs Preservation and Development — are invalid, has been filed against the developers in Seventh District Court by the Living Rivers nonprofit and Kane Creek Development Watch.

The meat of the lawsuit asserts the “developer’s groundwater and Colorado River water rights were not put to beneficial use for more than seven years, which, under Utah law, means the water rights are subject to forfeiture. Development, even the preliminary bulldozing, cannot legally continue without a water supply.”

John Weisheit, executive director of Living Rivers, which he co-founded 25 years ago, in an email said, “We need to show respect to the Colorado River and our water supplies in times of prolonged drought, water scarcity, flood events and in land use. The developers of this luxury resort on the Colorado River fail to do so.”

Weisheit in a phone interview with The Times-Independent said the objective of the lawsuit “is to put some responsibility on the developer to put the project forward. We already know they’ve illegally used water,” he said. “They seem to think they’re above the law.”

The Utah Division of Water Rights shut down the project in May of 2024 after Weisheit complained they were unlawfully using water from a well that had not been approved.

Marc Stilson, the division’s regional water engineer for southeastern Utah, told The Times-Independent in May of 2024 that the action was taken because the well in question had not yet been approved and, in fact, the water right attached to it has been protested by myriad agencies, businesses and individuals, including the Bureau of Land Management, Intrepid Potash, Kane Creek Development Watch and Weisheit’s Living Rivers nonprofit.

Read more at moabtimes.com.

This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.