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The Fremont River winds through Torrey, but the historic southern Utah town gets its drinking water 15 miles away from springs on Thousand Lakes Mountain in Fishlake National Forest. Town leaders in the 1980s tapped this distant source with a 6-inch pipeline that has become inadequate as tourists continue to flock to this gateway to Capitol Reef National Park.

But the pro-conservation politics of some residents may be working against Torrey's quest for funding from the Utah Community Impact Board (CIB) to replace the water line with 10-inch pipe. State Rep. Mike Noel, whose district covers Torrey and several southern Utah counties, is arguing that because the grant money comes from federal mineral leases, people should not oppose drilling if their town relies on infrastructure funded by the CIB.

"You hypocrites down in Torrey, listen up," Noel, R-Kanab, said at a May 17 interim legislative meeting during which he singled out residents' opposition to a gravel pit proposed on trust lands about a mile upwind from town. "You're getting money, and you're criticizing the Legislature, you're criticizing the miners. Don't ask for money from mining to take care of your water system if you are going to sit there and criticize the people where the money comes from."

Noel's remarks surprised leaders of the town, whose elected officials have never taken a position on oil and gas development or the gravel pit.

"It irks me," said Mayor Scott Chestnut, who describes himself as a supporter of oil and gas leasing on public lands. "You tell me where there is any place in the country where you find 100 percent in favor of something."

Last year, the town asked the CIB to fund the water system upgrades through a combination of grants and loans totaling $2.2 million, but the board directed Torrey to tap the state Drinking Water Board. That agency extended a $1.7 million low-interest loan, and now the town hopes to cover the balance with a $515,000 CIB grant.

The CIB, which is to take up Torrey's request at its meeting Thursday, awards millions of dollars in mineral revenues for infrastructure and civic projects. The grants are meant to help offset rural governments' small tax bases, but politics sometimes intrude when tourism-oriented communities seek funding.

"It happens almost every time we go. We end up getting funded, but we take a lot of flak," said Chris Baird, a Grand County Council member. Governments in his county, a big oil producer, have sought loans and grants to expand the jail and Moab's sewer, and for several smaller projects.

"We support mining and oil and gas, but we expect it to be well-regulated because there are a lot resource conflicts with tourism," Baird said.

As the manager of a Kane County water district, Noel himself has asked the CIB for money. In 2012, he secured a $7 million zero-interest loan to build a water system for a seasonal subdivision.

In an interview, Noel stressed that he does not want to undermine Torrey's water project, but he is seeking to educate his constituents about where CIB money comes from.

"It's an awareness issue," Noel said. "There are some real knotheads that think money grows on trees."

He contends that extractive industries are unfairly criticized by some who have moved into his district, which is rich in scenery and resources.

"Behind every light switch is a coal miner," Noel said. "Behind every grant through the CIB, there is someone out there working on the ground. They don't get the credit they deserve. They just get the negative side. 'Leave it in the ground, leave it in the ground,' as [these critics] drive their cars and work on their computers."

The lawmaker complained that Torrey votes against him because of his bullish stance on drilling and coal.

Noel's Democratic rival Ty Markham, a Torrey bed-and-breakfast operator who lost to Noel in 2012 and 2016, accused him of politicizing the CIB program to punish opponents. A former town council member, Markham is a co-founder of the Mormon Environmental Stewardship Alliance. She said her campaigns to unseat Noel have centered more on conserving landscapes than attacks on mineral leasing.

"I never talked against oil and gas, but I did talk about moving into the future," Markham said.

"Coal is a dying industry. Oil and gas prices are unstable, and you can't really can't count on all this money to run our public lands," she said, "but that has nothing to do with the town of Torrey."

Twitter: @brianmaffly