It is working on ordinances restricting time of day for watering lawns and has plans to restructure water sales to emphasize conservation, he said. "Wherever we can, we try to insist on restrictive ordinances" about landscaping in order to encourage conservation.

The district has a full-time conservation officer, Thompson said. And it wants improvements in conserving.

Responding to Clemens' comments about Tucson, he said, "Some of what they do I think is nice. Some of that I don't think you'd put that as a Utah lifestyle." It's important to look for balance, he said.

The district's plans are based on projections that Washington County population will continue to soar, from the present 116,000 people to 648,000 by 2018 or 2050.

"There are limits to growth," Clemens said, "and we need to take into account that we live in an arid land and that the Colorado River is not nearly so bounteous as we at one time believed."

A "whole suite" of endangered plants are found in Washington County, including "the beautiful dwarf bear claw poppy . . . and they're teetering on the brink of extinction as it is."

Thompson rejoined, rejoins, "There are no endangered plants on this right of way, and we've looked at that pretty close."

The debate must not be limited to whether threatened and endangered species are on the actual right of way or reservoir site, according to Clemens.

With "aggressive, unplanned growth" in southwestern Utah, he said, little hope remains for these species to survive in the region. The water project would fuel unplanned growth, according to him.

Thompson said the district can't be faulted on growth issues. Water conservation experts can't tell people not to move to the area.

"That's not our job," he said. "Nobody ordained us to do that."

Instead, the district is required to consider population projections and adjust its services, according to Thompson. "I've got to plan for the future and have a plan that can accommodate whatever happens."

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E-mail: bau@desnews.com