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Delay sought in Snake Valley pipeline project

Posted by: Maven on April 2, 2009 at 5:21 am

From Deseret News:

Purveyors of a would-be 300-mile pipeline project that would tap water from the Snake Valley aquifer have asked for a one-year delay to complete a modeling study of the potential impacts of pumping the groundwater. Officials with the Southern Nevada Water Authority call the need for extra time reasonable because an environmental-impact study by the Bureau of Land Management is not yet done.

Utah-based critics of the pipeline project say the request is outrageous and smacks of the project’s demise. “They are putting a positive spin on their own failure to do due diligence,” said Steve Erickson, a spokesman with the Great Basin Water Network. “They should do the honorable thing and withdraw their application altogether,” he said, adding that the water authority is doing nothing more than “blowing smoke.”

At issue is the authority’s groundwater application to the Nevada State Engineer, an “evidentiary-exchange” hearing on that matter set for June and subsequent public hearings scheduled to begin in late September.

A letter dated Monday to the state engineer asked for the extension.

J.C. Davis, water-authority spokesman, said it has been impossible to complete the computerized hydrology study because the BLM has not yet defined the parameters they must follow. “We can only develop the model as fast as they define the parameters,” he said.

Read more from the Deseret News by clicking here.

April 2, 2009 · Filed Under Las Vegas & Nevada

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