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Southern Nevada Water Authority votes to challenge groundwater ruling; Nevada Supreme Court may take up case

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 20, 2009 at 8:24 am

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports on a story that should surprise no one:

“Advocates and opponents of a plan to pipe groundwater to Las Vegas from three valleys in Lincoln County are headed for a showdown in the Nevada Supreme Court.

In an expected move Thursday, the Southern Nevada Water Authority board voted to appeal a judge’s ruling that stripped the agency of the water it hoped to tap in the first phase of its pipeline across eastern Nevada.

The Oct. 15 ruling by District Judge Norman Robison struck down a 2008 order by State Engineer Tracy Taylor that cleared the authority to pump more than 6 billion gallons of groundwater a year from Cave, Delamar and Dry Lake valleys in central Lincoln County.

In a stern rebuke of Taylor’s order, Robison ruled that the state’s chief water regulator “acted arbitrarily, capriciously and oppressively” when he approved the withdrawals without sufficient proof that the valleys could sustain large-scale groundwater pumping.

But if anyone is being arbitrary and capricious, it’s Robison, said water authority General Counsel Chuck Hauser. … “

Read more from the Las Vegas Review-Journal by clicking here.

November 20, 2009 · Filed Under Las Vegas & Nevada

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