Snake Valley water agreement appears imminent

From the Deseret News:

“A proposed water-sharing agreement in Snake Valley between Nevada and Utah appears destined for signature by the two states as additional revisions were aired in a Wednesday meeting of an advisory council.

Nevada officials indicated at the Snake Valley Advisory Council meeting that they are on board with the agreement as it stands, and John Harja, chairman of the council, conveyed that Utah Gov. Gary Herbert is convinced that “an agreement is better than none, and the interests of Utah are best served by an agreement.”

It was also revealed at the meeting that the Southern Nevada Water Authority, which has a pending water-rights application to tap up to 50,000 acre feet from the Snake Valley aquifer, will agree to wait on a hearing for that application until 2019, but only if the agreement between the two states is signed this year. … “

Read more from the Deseret News by clicking here.

From the Salt Lake Tribune:

” … The Snake Valley Aquifer Advisory Council met Wednesday at the Utah Capitol to review public comments about the deal, which effectively grants Nevada the water that a Las Vegas utility wants for a proposed pipeline supplying the city. After discussing those comments, board members themselves voiced their misgivings but learned that a final agreement is imminent.

That dismayed Kathy Hill, a Snake Valley teacher whose husband, Ken, is an advisory council member. She told the council the states’ rush to enter an agreement shakes her faith in government. Rural residents are being sold out as Nevada seeks its Vegas pipeline and Utah seeks Nevada’s blessing for one from Lake Powell to St. George, she alleged. “I feel like we’re a pingpong ball,” she said.

After the meeting, Hill said the hurry is preventing thorough review of the consequences. “I just don’t know how bad this agreement is,” she said.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert believes the deal is needed to protect the rights of current water users in the desert valley west of Delta, said John Harja, board chairman and the governor’s director of public lands policy coordination. “He is convinced that an agreement is better than none,” Harja said. … “

Read more from the Salt Lake Tribune by clicking here.

The public’s not convinced, according to this article published by the AP/Standard Net:

” … The most common public comment about a draft agreement to divvy up Snake Valley water between Utah and Nevada? No agreement is better than the one that’s proposed.

The comments were discussed Wednesday in Salt Lake City by the Snake Valley Aquifer Advisory Council, which includes members of local governments.

The deal, which was ordered by Congress in 2004, would split the water from an aquifer that straddles the two states. It also would delay until 2019 a proposal by the Southern Nevada Water Authority to siphon water from beneath the Snake Valley and send it 300 miles to the Las Vegas area.

More than 200 comments were submitted on the draft released in August. Of those, 89 said they’d rather see no agreement at all on the water. Others voiced concern about dust and other air quality problems if Snake Valley dries out. … “

Read more from Standard Net Live by clicking here.

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