Utah lawmakers opposing Nevada water pipeline

Utah lawmakers are backing an effort to lengthen the comment period for a proposed Las Vegas water pipeline that critics say will have drastic environmental and economic impacts for almost a half-dozen rural valleys in Utah and Nevada. More than 75 Utah legislators signed a letter Wednesday urging the Bureau of Land Management to accept public comments on the environmental impact statement for the project through Dec. 1. That would add 90 days to the original Sept. 9 deadline. Four arguments in favor of the extension are identified in the letter, including the difficulty for the impacted farmers and ranchers to review the EIS during their busy summer months. Legislators also expressed concern about the technical nature of the document, which is hundreds of pages and took six years to compile before being released in June. "A more deliberative process will produce better comments which will better inform BLM's decision-making," lawmakers said in the letter. The request from state officials is being sent on the same day that the Great Basin Water Network, a coalition opposed to what they describe as a "water grab" by the Southern Nevada Water Authority, released a summary of the negative impacts found in the BLM document. Among the "irreversible" changes highlighted by the group from the EIS are increased dust pollution as groundwater levels reduce, changes to wildlife and fish habitats and the decimation of ranches and farms that are the economic base of the impacted areas...more