Discovery of new species in Great Basin Nation Park caves adds fuel to debate

In the past two years alone, staff members have identified at least seven possible new cave species at Nevada's only national park, about 300 miles northeast of Las Vegas. So far only two of the tiny animals have been officially described and given scientific names, but Baker and Roberts expect at least one more of their discoveries to become official this year with the publication of a scientific paper on the critter. Several others are either in the process of being described or are awaiting the collection of additional specimens. This literal unearthing of new critters at Great Basin could do more than thrill entomologists and amateur bug enthusiasts. It could sharpen anxiety about the Southern Nevada Water Authority's plans to pump billions of gallons of groundwater a year from Snake Valley, just east of the park. Snake Valley represents the final leg of the multibillion-dollar pipeline the authority plans to build to tap groundwater across eastern Nevada. The authority is seeking state permission to pump as much as 16 billion gallons of water a year from the vast and sparsely populated watershed on the Nevada-Utah border. The valley is home to many of the authority's harshest critics, including ranch families who have lived in the area for generations. Baker married into one of those families. Her father-in-law is Dean Baker, a longtime Snake Valley rancher who has become the de facto spokesman for pipeline opponents. For their part, though, Gretchen Baker and other staff members at Great Basin National Park are trying to let science do the talking when it comes to the groundwater project...read more