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Las Vegas is granted permission to draw water from Cave, Delamar, and Dry Lake Valleys …

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 10, 2008 at 5:30 am

From the Las Vegas Sun:

State Engineer Tracy Taylor is granting the Southern Nevada Water Authority additional permission to draw 6.1 billion gallons of water from eastern Nevada a year for use in the growing Las Vegas area. The authority sought 11.1 billion gallons but Scott Huntley, a spokesman for the authority, said it was “very pleased” with the ruling.

The application to the state sought 34,752 acre feet a year and Taylor granted 18,755 acre feet, about 53 percent of the request.

Huntley called it a “strong ruling” and it will translate into 32,100 acre feet with the re-use by the authority from the return flows.

Susan Lynn, a spokeswoman for the Great Basin Water Network, complained the ruling would hurt ranchers and wildlife areas in the areas south of Cave, Dry Lake and Delamar Valleys where the water will be drawn from. She called it a “very tough decision.”

From the Elko Daily News:

While the SNWA application sought more than 11.3 billion gallons of groundwater a year from the valleys and the ruling allows about 6.1 billion gallons, Susan Lynn of the Great Basin Water Network said, “It’s way too much considering there are a whole lot of downstream groundwater users who rely on that groundwater flow that is going to be intercepted.”

The SNWA project opponents include ranchers and farmers, as well as local irrigation companies, a water board, the Sierra Club, Nevada Cattlemen’s Association and White Pine County which borders Lincoln County.

The project is backed by casino executives, developers, union representatives and others who point to water conservation efforts in the Las Vegas area and who warn of an economic downturn affecting the entire state unless the city has enough water to keep growing.

From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

SNWA representatives had contended the water authority met all requirements for the pumping and critics’ disaster scenarios are unfounded.

The Great Basin Water Network opposed the plan, saying SNWA tried to hide evidence that the pumping may harm existing water users and the environment in rural Nevada because there’s not enough water in the valleys for long-term exportation.

Taylor said use of the water in the amounts he approved “will not unduly limit future growth and development” in the three valleys, all in central Lincoln County. But before any water is pumped, Taylor wants to see more biological and hydrologic studies. He also said that pumping will be halted or modified if it proves “detrimental to the public interest or is found to not be environmentally sound.”

Allen Biaggi, the state’s conservation-natural resources chief and Taylor’s boss, said the ruling shows “the strength of Nevada’s water law in balancing the needs of its citizens, protecting existing water rights and protecting Nevada’s natural resources.”

Kay Brothers, SNWA’s deputy general manager, said the water authority recognized the state engineer’s “somewhat conservative” approach to water management in Nevada, the nation’s most arid state, and wouldn’t challenge his decision. “We respect the way he manages the state’s water basins,” Brothers said. “If that’s what he’s comfortable with, so are we.”

So far, the Southern Nevada Water Authority has filed for 125,742 acre-feet, but has only been granted 58,755 acre-feet per year; it is the difference between supplying 428,000 homes and 200,000 homes. However, instead of seeing the pipeline has half-empty, SNWA officials see it as half-full in this article from the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Brothers said the authority’s resource plan for the next 50 years was built on the assumption that the agency would not get all the groundwater it applied for in eastern Nevada. “Our planning horizon has always looked at a range, and what we’ve seen so far is in that range,” she said.

By as early as 2013, the authority hopes to start delivering rural groundwater to the Las Vegas Valley through a pipeline that is expected to stretch more than 250 miles and cost between $2 billion and $3.5 billion. Authority officials see the project as a way to supply water for growth in the Las Vegas Valley and insulate the community from drought on the Colorado River, which provides 90 percent of the valley’s drinking water.

Critics argue that large-scale groundwater pumping in the arid valleys of eastern Nevada threatens the region’s wildlife and the livelihoods of its ranchers and farmers.

Wednesday’s ruling drew a tepid response from those most opposed to the project. “We think the decision was sort of a mixed bag,” said Simeon Herskovits, a New Mexico-based attorney representing stakeholders who have protested the authority’s plans to the state. Herskovits said Taylor agreed with some of the concerns raised by the opposition and “didn’t bite” on some of the authority’s more speculative arguments. But, he said, the state engineer failed to address the long-term problems with pumping so much water, though the authority is “locking it in as a permanent supply.”

“There are some things to be pleased about” in the ruling, Herskovits said, “but overall, we are concerned that the outcome was too much water permitted to the Southern Nevada Water Authority.”

July 10, 2008 · Filed Under Las Vegas

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