Font ResizeDelta » Who has the key to the pump house?
That's what rancher Don Anderson wants to know as a member of the newly created Snake Valley Aquifer Advisory Council, appointed to help Utah negotiate a water-sharing agreement with Nevada, and protect the environment of western Utah. The rancher wants Utah to have the power to shut off water if Nevada breaks a proposed water-sharing agreement between the two states.
The council meeting was one stop on Gov. Gary Herbert's western Utah road trip Friday to discuss the proposed deal with Nevada on how to divide water in the aquifer that straddles the state line.
While most who attended the meetings accept the need to have an agreement between the states, many worry about the details of the plan to pump the water 300 miles south to Las Vegas.
How much water does the aquifer actually hold? And what will be the effect on the land and wildlife if the water table is drawn down? Those and other questions were on the minds of council members, and of residents who spoke at a hearing Friday evening in Delta.
The six-member council, whose members were named this week, met for the first time Friday afternoon with the governor at the Border Inn north of Garrison, where the lodgings and gas station sit in Utah and the casino about 30 feet away in Nevada.
The meeting was followed by a public hearing farther north in Delta which sits atop the
The governor opened the council meeting by insisting that nothing would be signed that would give away Utah water.
"This is an emotional issue," Herbert said. "We want an appropriate division of water to protect our lifestyle and the flora and fauna. Nevada has a right to do what they want with their water. ... My only obligation is to Utah."
Members of the council and people at the public hearing questioned how the amount of water held in the aquifer would be determined. Council member Kathy Walker, chairwoman of the Millard County Commission, said the county questions how the numbers used in the deal were reached and has offered a counterproposal for divvying up the water.
Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon, also a council member, joined Friday's discussion by telephone and voiced concern about possible effects on Salt Lake Valley air quality from blowing dust created by low water levels. He warned if the valley's air quality is adversely affected it could mean the loss of federal transportation dollars.
"This goes to the citizens' pocketbooks," said Corroon.
Before any agreement is signed, the mayor wants a guarantee of monitoring stations to check Salt Lake County air quality. He also called for Utah to conduct more environmental studies on possible ramifications of pumping the water, and wants the council to see all drafts of the agreement and all public comments that have been gathered on it.
Herbert said the final agreement will be based on water science and the law. He also said he is in no rush to sign an agreement.
"We need to hear the people," he said. "We need to dot our I's and check off the list. For the final determination, I have no desire to hurry up and complete it."
Merle Rawlins, a retired school teacher who attended the meeting in Garrison, questioned the accuracy of the 132,000 acre feet of water being used in a draft of the water agreement, noting how the Colorado River Compact that divided the river's water among seven states was determined in the 1920s during the highest river levels on record.
"It's haunting them," he said.
He also reminded the council that west central Utah has been in a 10 year drought with only 2.75 inches falling one year.
"This could be a disaster down the road," he warned.
Many of the 50 people who attended the Delta public hearing said an agreement is necessary to avoid going to court and possibly weakening Utah's position.
LaVar Cox said if the issue was to end up in court, it could create case law that could go against the state in the future.
Fred Tolbert said farmers and ranchers are the ones who should be consulted about determining water levels. They have been watching the levels decline for years.
One speaker wondered if the agreement wouldn't signal the end of new ranches in western Utah.
"If we give our water to Vegas, there will be no more family wells," he said.
Public comment on the proposed Snake Valley Aquifer agreement ends Sept. 30. For more information and to look at draft documents and comments made so far go to: waterrights.utah.gov.
