Southwest Advisory Council

The Southwest Advisory Council (SW AC) is composed of 7 members representing various perspectives from Washington and Kane Counties. Members of the SW AC represent diverse backgrounds and viewpoints from the region, including some with a state or local government background. Others represent the energy and agricultural industries. Other members work with water districts, academia, or advocacy organizations. We are grateful for the opportunity to present to the Board a few recommendations that have emerged from our conversations this past year.

Co-Chair: Adam Snow – Adam is a Commissioner for Washington County. His family was one of the first to settle Washington County, and Snow Canyon is named for his 3rd great-grandfather. For almost 6 years, Adam has been the Southern Utah Director for Congressman Chris Stewart, working for the citizens of southern Utah. He is an active member of the GOP, and currently serves on the State Central Committee and State Executive Committee. Adam has served as a county delegate, precinct chair, state delegate, and campaigned for conservatives across the Southwest. Adam earned his M.B.A.  from Pepperdine University, an M.D.R. (ie: Master of Negotiation) from Pepperdine School of Law, and a Bachelor’s from the University of Arizona.

Brock Belnap - Brock is the Associate General Manager for the Washington County Water Conservancy District. Brock previously served as the County Attorney for Washington County for 16 years. He earned his associate degree from Dixie College, a BA from the University of Utah, and went on to BYU where he earned his JD in 1992. Brock lives with his family in St. George.

Elaine York – Elaine is the West Desert Regional Director for The Nature Conservancy and has over 25 years of experience in leading collaborative projects to support and improve Utah’s natural areas, both terrestrial and aquatic. She has extensive experience in partner engagement, strategic planning, fundraising, and natural system enhancement projects all in a collaborative context with federal, state, and local partners as well as ranchers and agricultural producers. Elaine has a BS in Anthropology and MS in Education from the University of Utah.

Edward Andrechak - Edward has 35 years of experience in engineering, account management, and business development. He currently serves as the Vice President of Water Program Director for Conserve Southwest Utah (CSU) where he leads their Water Program. As a Board member of CSU, Edward also is directly involved in organizational strategic planning and tactical administration. Edward earned his MBA from UCLA and his BS in Chemical Engineering from Virginia Tech and currently lives in Ivins.

Stacy Young- Stacy has been a developer and land use attorney for over 20 years. In that time, he has been directly involved in developing thousands of homes and related commercial and civic uses in Washington County and is also the public policy director for the Southern Utah Home Builders Association. Before becoming a developer, Stacy was a management consultant for a boutique consultancy based in Las Vegas. His hobbies include trail running and cycling in beautiful southern Utah. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah and a JD and MBA from Washington University in St. Louis.

Shanandoah Anderson- Shanan is a tribal member of the Shivwits Band of Paiutes. She is the current Tribal Liaison for the Shivwits Band on Water Rights and all issues concerning the Upper, and Lower Colorado River. Shanandoah also works as a tribal monitor for the Southern Paiute Consortium (SPC) to ensure the protection of cultural resources along the Colorado River as well as a member of the Culture Committee and Emergency Management for the Shivwits Band.  She is a personal Cultural Consultant on the history and culture of the Southern Paiute people located in Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and California and does speaking engagements and consulting for schools, government, state agencies, tribes, television series such as Netflix, documentaries, authors and a variety of private entities.

SAC 2025 OBJECTIVES

  • Initiate a targeted public outreach effort where the SAC hosts and sponsors Colorado river-focused listening sessions and informational briefings with local community stakeholders and the public
  • Separate into distinct Southeastern and Southwestern councils in order to expand council membership and to help facilitate the councils’ targeted outreach efforts
  • Expand individual council members' understanding of the critical current and ongoing issues, challenges, and developments affecting the Colorado River in Utah and the West
  • Find more effective ways to listen to and learn from key area stakeholders including tribes, water users, agriculture  community, housing industry, etc. 
  • Share ideas and best practices with other state advisory councils
  • Continue to provide timely, concrete, actionable recommendations to the Authority Board on how best to allocate scarce Colorado River resources 
  • Discuss, develop, and present longer-term (5-10 year) planning ideas and suggestions to the Authority Board.

2025 RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE BOARD

1)Protect and enhance local economies - While we recognize change and sacrifice are needed from all citizens within the Colorado River Basin, we hope any decisions by the Board will continue to give due consideration to how those policies impact local economies. Living with less water will disproportionately impact certain communities more than others. Anticipated costs and impacts on Utah’s citizens need to be given the highest consideration. We urge the board to commit to promoting and emphasizing economic development along the Colorado River system. Lake Powell and Flaming Gorge are both critical energy, recreation, and tourism resources and need to be defended.    

2)Conservation - The Board should make every effort to encourage state policymakers to promote water conservation including within the Colorado River Basin. The state of Utah should set the goal of becoming a conservation leader in the western United States. All Utahns must utilize their existing water supplies as efficiently and effectively as possible. A variety of conservation measures should be funded and prioritized.

3)Protecting Habitat for all living things is a worthwhile objective - While a focus on economic impacts and water conservation needs to be considered first and foremost, we also urge the Board to keep in mind the critical wildlife and habitat considerations of the Colorado River watershed both for human and non-human species. Projects that improve wildlife habitat should be supported.

4)Defend Utah’s allocation - The SAC acknowledges that any future development in the state must occur within the bounds of what mother nature provides. The Board and River Commissioner should stand firm in defending Utah’s access to its full 23% share of water available.

5)Listen to agriculture and rural voices - The SAC believes that Utah’s rural and agricultural communities are critical to Utah’s economy and culture. We believe agriculture and rural communities throughout the state must be fully heard and duly considered whenever water policies and decisions are being made.  

6)Support Storage and other responsible water projects -The SAC believes Utah should lead by example in encouraging responsible water development by pursuing additional storage opportunities that are cost-effective and consistent with sound fiscal and water policy. Utah should encourage the other Basin states to do the same thing as well as explore desalinization and other water augmentation strategies.

7)Energy is Critical - As the nation transitions to cleaner energy, small-scale nuclear, new hydro, pump storage, geothermal, and small storage programs can play an important role in this transition. The Board should promote energy development through water resource projects. The significant energy security provided by Glen Canyon Dam should not be minimized.

8)Look at all options to maximize smart use - The SAC supports maximizing usage of local water resources, including recycling, regional reuse systems, and pursuing agricultural conversion on a willing-buyer/willing-seller basis. As the Board attempts to find ways to save and conserve water, we are encouraged by your past support of agricultural optimization (including crop-switching and targeted rotational and seasonal fallowing) where appropriate and cost-effective.

9)Measurement should continue to be a focus - The Board should commit to promoting highly accurate measurement and continue to coordinate closely with DNR and other state agencies to ensure that Utah uses the most advanced, recent data and that Utah’s per capita use is being measured the same way as other states and municipalities.