This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Pipeline pipe dream: Las Vegas water greed is too much — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial Referring to the groundwater found in western Utah and eastern Nevada as a "renewable" resource, as the person in charge of finding ever more water for the fountains and golf courses of Las Vegas does, is like calling the Utah Legislature a Democratic stronghold. It rains in the desert sometimes. And the Democratic Party has not been completely swept from the Utah Capitol. But counting on the strength of either one in the foreseeable future would be a hope devoid of realism. That is why last week's decision by the Bureau of Land Management to allow construction of a mammoth pipeline that would draw billions of gallons of water from the dry basins of eastern Nevada and pipe it 263 miles south to Las Vegas is just what one of the plan's environmentalist activists called it: "Pure folly." ...

— Pipeline project trudges ahead — Las Vegas Review-Journal Editorial ... In fact, the water authority would just as soon not build this project, which comes with a price tag variously estimated from $2 billion to $15 billion. Unfortunately, changing the law of the Colorado to allow interstate water purchases at market rates — the best solution — is still not politically feasible. Though certainly, if that day ever comes, it will help Nevada's case to be able to say everything else has been tried. (At least one of the reader comments on this editorial notes, as does our editorial, that calling the groundwater of Nevada and Utah a "renewable" resource is folly.)

Bureau of Land Management Nevada Groundwater Development website.

— In an arid land, we must manage our thirst — Wade Graham | For The Los Angeles Times ... A study released last month by the Bureau of Reclamation confirms what everyone already knows: We are sucking more water out of the Colorado River Basin than nature is putting in. ...

— High-stakes fight over water rights — Denver Post Editorial In a complex battle between ski resorts and the federal government, the public's interest should be protected. ...

— California's water supply must be protected from fracking — Los Angeles Daily News Editorial ... Energy companies dream of setting off a 21st-century Gold Rush, bringing jobs and riches to a region now suffering from high unemployment. California has a golden opportunity to help meet the nation's energy needs while enacting model legislation for other states to follow. But the experiences of Pennsylvania, New York and Texas provide a wealth of knowledge about fracking's considerable risks to groundwater and air quality and we have to learn from them. ...

— California's water supply comes before fracking needs — Sacramento Bee Editorial

— Don't throw out the wells, throw out the conclusions — Casper Star-Tribune Editorial (Concerning a dispute over whether fracking in gas fields in Wyoming did or did not cause groundwater pollution.)

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