This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
CARSON CITY, Nev. - Water officials came armed with a deal on the first day of hearings to determine whether Nevada approves a massive groundwater pumping project that could have far-reaching effects on eastern Nevada and parts of western Utah.
Just before three weeks of public hearings were scheduled to commence Monday at the Capitol, the Southern Nevada Water Authority and U.S. Interior Department announced the signing of a joint monitoring and mitigation agreement.
Water authority officials hailed the agreement as a giant step forward in gaining approval for their project, which seeks to take up to 200,000 acre-feet of water annually out of Nevada's arid eastern valleys. Included is a proposal to withdraw 25,000 acre-feet yearly out of Snake Valley, which straddles the Nevada-Utah state line. The water would then be shipped to Las Vegas via a 200-mile pipeline network.
But opponents of the project, who fear the destruction of the region's ecosystem and ranching industry if such large amounts of groundwater are withdrawn, called the agreement an end-run that was ordered from higher up.
"We heard months ago that this was coming, and it's a sellout. The Interior Department has lost all credibility," said Baker, Nev., rancher Dean Baker. ''If they let SNWA sign an [agreement] without any teeth, without any science in it, what does that say about how they deal with the rest of us? If they have a grazing issue with us, can we say 'Let it ride' until later? I doubt it.''
The deal would allow the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs to withdraw protests the agencies had previously filed against the SNWA project.
"This doesn't mean our concerns have been alleviated, but this agreement will allow us to work with the water authority on a proactive basis instead of through a long, adversarial process," said Fish and Wildlife Service official Bob Williams. "Monitoring the project in this way will give us early warning, an early alert in protecting the resources that could be impacted by this project."
Cecil Garland, a rancher from Callao, Utah, is now more convinced than ever that big money is what's dictating the course of these hearings.
"This is about very rich and powerful people who think they can take my water because they have the money to do it," Garland said. "But it doesn't mean I'm giving up."
Ken Albright, the water authority's groundwater resources manager, says one look at the agreement should convince skeptics that it's on the up and up.
"This is a phenomenally comprehensive document. Anybody who reads it will be duly impressed by the requirements it puts on both sides," he said. "We're putting in wells. We're monitoring streams. This is going to take a tremendous effort by all the agencies involved. Nobody is rolling over here."
Monday marked the beginning of an approval process that, technically, will assess applications by the water authority to take 91,000 acre-feet of water annually out of Spring Valley, which sits on the west side of Great Basin National Park. But opponents of the project consider the hearings crucial because of the connection to groundwater resources in surrounding valleys.
SNWA's proposal to take water out of Snake Valley will require an agreement with Utah, which shares the large aquifer under the valley. Nevada water authority officials have pressured their Beehive State counterparts for a fast-track agreement.
A lot of Monday's early testimony centered on just how much groundwater is available in Spring Valley. The water authority claims the region has an annual yield in excess of 100,000 acre-feet, based upon earlier studies done by the U.S. Geologic Survey. But Matt Kenna, an attorney for the Western Environmental Law Center, which is representing project opponents, says more recent evidence suggests the basin's annual yield is closer to 70,000 acre-feet.
More importantly, Kenna said, "There is not a single map provided by the water authority showing how much of a draw-down [of the water table] there will be. The water authority knows it's going to be hundreds of feet in the valley, but they can't say how much."
The USGS is currently doing a groundwater resources analysis that is scheduled to be completed next year. Also ongoing is a BLM environmental impact study.
Opponents have called for SNWA to wait until those studies are complete before seeking project permits from the engineer. But water authority general manager Pat Mulroy has argued that her agency cannot afford to wait, given that the agency has all but maxed out its Colorado River allotment - which currently provides 90 percent of SNWA's water supply.
Mulroy also calls SNWA's groundwater project a matter of public interest for the entire state, given how Las Vegas drives the Nevada economy. But under questioning from Kenna, she acknowledged that if the cost of the project included drying up Spring Valley, it was probably too high.
"It's a hypothetical question. And I don't believe that will happen," she said. "But if this were to decimate Spring Valley, no, it would not be in the public interest."
''We heard months ago that this was coming, and it's a sellout.''
DEAN BAKER
Nevada rancher