The decision essentially revokes the approval of A1’s application, marking a course reversal from the state, which gave the company a green light on May 1.
The division will now review the application, as well as the concerns raised by the environmental groups, before the state engineer issues an amended decision. A spokesperson for the Division of Water Rights said the review process could include additional public hearings.
In a statement Tuesday, A1 Lithium acknowledged the petition from the environmental groups and the division’s decision.
“We will continue to work with the Utah Division of Water Rights and other oversight agencies as needed,” said A1 Lithium CEO Bruce Richardson.
The company’s Paradox Lithium Project, named after the basin that covers parts of southeastern Utah into the Four Corners area, has been in the works for several years. Richardson told lawmakers last year the project is expected to be in full swing by 2027.
The water A1 was eying contains lithium brine and according to its application, once the brine is extracted, the water would be reinjected into the ground. So even though the project would use roughly enough water each year to fill a small reservoir (14,000 acre-feet is more than the entire capacity of Recapture Reservoir in San Juan County), A1 claims the process would be non-consumptive.
