ST. GEORGE — Washington County legislators expect the proposed $350 million Lake Powell pipeline would produce more than water for future residents of Utah's booming desert oasis.

If it became a reality, it certainly would produce a lot of litigation, Dixie's legislators agreed during a meeting of the Washington County Republican Women in St. George Thursday.

"We need the pipeline because of all the growth down here. But it looks like it will take about eight years to get through all the lawsuits the environmentalists plan to throw at us," said Rep. Brad Last, R-Hurricane.

Washington County's annual growth rate continues to be around 9 percent, and there's no indication a slowdown is in the future. In fact, one of the most sought-after sessions of the county's annual Economic Summit, which is scheduled for Jan. 12 this year in the Dixie Center in St. George, looks at the area's changing demographics.

Everyone, it seems, wants to know how the county will find enough water to support the tens of thousands of people expected to move here over the next 15 years. Washington County's population could grow from its current estimate of 120,000 to more than 500,000 within the next several decades.

Rep. David Clark, R-Santa Clara, who sits on the state Water Delivery Financing Task Force, said former Gov. Olene Walker jump-started the process of finding a way to pay for that water by establishing the task force.

"If we are going to run out of water around 2018 or 2020, then we're going to need some help funding it," Clark said. "We need to find alternate ways to do this. If we are anticipating an eight-year legal battle — and it could be as long as 12 years — then we're already six months behind."

The task force is charged with looking at ways to fund the Lake Powell pipeline and a water delivery system that would pump water from the Bear River into Willard Bay and then on to the Wasatch Front.

Clark and Sen. Bill Hickman, R-St. George, both sit on the task force and appear optimistic the new liaison established between southern and northern Utah leaders will help the projects succeed.

"We want to take those who would use that water in the Bear River and include them in the task force," Clark said. "We think that'll gain us some political muscle and that we'll make progress on both projects by having those partnerships. We want to lock arms and move forward; that's currently our strategy."

Another item leading their list of priorities is a new Health Sciences Center for Dixie State College, Last said.

"It's critical for our area. A lot of people don't know what an economic draw the health-care system is here," said Last, who owns a home health-care business. "There's also a tremendous need in the health and human services area around the state. One thing I will try to do is restore dental and vision coverage for those on Medicaid."