The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is among hundreds who filed protests with the state of Nevada over a proposal to pump and pipe groundwater from the Snake Valley and surrounding areas to Las Vegas.

The Great Basin Water Network, an advocacy group that has opposed the plan to take water from underneath the Utah-Nevada state line near Great Basin National Park, conducted a computer analysis of protests filed with the Nevada state engineer and released the results Tuesday. The church protests cover wells proposed for Spring Valley, where it operates the Cleveland and Rogers ranches and three associated grazing permits.

"In January 2010, the church protested four proposed well locations out of concern that those specific wells could negatively impact water rights used in ranch operations," church spokesman Scott Trotter said in a written statement.

The protest, filed by the Bruce R. Scott, says the church's water rights are "critical to the overall operation of this livestock program."

Those who filed protests by the April deadline have standing to intervene in Nevada's process when the applications, currently delayed by a court ruling, are reviewed. Joining the church in filing protests were the state of Utah and several conservation groups including the Sierra Club, Trout Unlimited and the Utah Rivers Council. The list also includes Snake Valley ranchers.

"It's been a broad-based opposition all along, but the protests just kind of solidify that even more," said Steve Erickson of the Great Basin Water Network.

Utah officials had worked on a deal to split up Snake Valley's remaining groundwater in return for protections to the rights that Utahns already use there, but those talks stalled last winter. Erickson said he hadn't expected the state to protest.

"We're surprised and pleased that the state wants to protect its interests," Erickson said.

Deputy Utah State Engineer Boyd Clayton, though, said the state continues to hope for negotiations with Nevada. The protests are "a placeholder" to make sure the state still has a place in the talks, he said.

The state's protest, filed April 15 by Natural Resources Director Michael Styler, says "Utah strongly suggests these negotiations take place prior to any hearings on SNWA's applications. Upon execution of such an agreement, Utah will withdraw this statement of concern."

The protests are no surprise to the Southern Nevada Water Authority, which seeks to drill the wells and build the pipeline. Spokesman J.C. Davis said anyone who wants standing before the Nevada engineer, who allocates water rights, would protest.

"It's understandable that anybody with water rights in the Spring Valley — particularly the LDS Church, if they indeed have one — would want to protect them," Davis said. "But that [protection] is embedded in state law."

Nevada law, like Utah's, awards water rights according to the time they are filed, he said, meaning Las Vegas' rights could not trump church rights that were awarded earlier.

The Las Vegas water provider has applied for more than 130 wells, including from the Snake Valley, for a 285-mile pipeline. Some opponents fear it could dry up the valley and send dust clouds toward Salt Lake City while endangering water supplies for ranchers and others who lack the political clout of Nevada's largest city. —

Ranches part of LDS welfare system

The Cleveland and Rogers ranches are part of the church's Welfare Services Department. The church said it provides assistance to the poor through growing crops and raising cattle. The church's Corporation of the Presiding Bishop owns surface and groundwater rights in the Spring Valley area.

Source: The AP, 2006