And once there, residents of the Snake Valley along the Utah-Nevada border told state lawmakers that a proposal by Las Vegas water officials to pump groundwater out of a series of aquifers will have a ruinous effect on their livelihoods - and on the plants, animals and fish that make their home in the fragile desert environment.

"The entire supposition of the Southern Nevada Water Authority is that they can take this water because there is a surplus of water and that the water can be pumped endlessly out of the deep aquifer. Both are incorrect," said Callao rancher Cecil Garland.

Wednesday marked the first time legislators - in a meeting of the Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environmental Interim Committee - were formally briefed on the debate over the West Desert's water resources. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. met with area residents on a visit there last fall, promising their interests would be protected in any agreement with Nevada.

Utah's approval is necessary for the project to move forward.

Department of Natural Resources Director Michael Styler told lawmakers the state is moving cautiously in responding to the water authority's plan to tap dozens of wells on the Nevada side of the Snake Valley, part of a larger project to pipe 25,000 acre-feet of water annually to Las Vegas to supplement the rapidly growing city's water needs.

Utah and Nevada officials are currently negotiating a memorandum of understanding. But with environmental studies by the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Geological Survey still ongoing, Styler said the state is in no hurry to make a deal.

"We're more concerned with collecting the data and establishing a process," he said. "This won't be done in a corner. Our goal is to protect existing water rights, provide for future growth and safeguard the sustainability of the resource." Utah lobbyist and former state Sen. Fred Finlinson, who is representing the SNWA on Capitol Hill, says Las Vegas water officials have reached an agreement on the project with Lincoln County, Nev., and are are closing in on a deal with White Pine County. Utah represents the final obstacle.

"Most of this won't impact Utah at all," Finlinson said. "Most of the project in Lincoln County doesn't impact Utah, and a lot of the White Pine [project area] won't. But for the Snake Valley, we know this is critically important."

And those Snake Valley residents urged lawmakers to be vigilant in protecting the state's interests.

"Utah would do well to address these issues on a preventative basis, rather than [after-the-fact] mitigation efforts," said Gerald Anderson, a rancher who lives near Eskdale in Millard County.

jbaird@sltrib.com