Monday, October 10, 2011

Tug-of-war between urban, rural emerges in Las Vegas pipeline duel

Somebody’s future is going to dry up, dozens of people testified Friday in a water-rights hearing for a Las Vegas water pipeline. Will it be the ranchers, small towns and tribes of western Utah and eastern Nevada who fear groundwater pumping from their valleys? Or will it be the casinos and, in better economic times, construction crews that fuel southern Nevada’s economy? Or is there — as Vegas water officials assert — enough to go around? Both sides lined up at microphones in four Nevada cities to make their case to Nevada’s state engineer, who is considering the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s applications for groundwater from Spring Valley and associated aquifers near Ely, Nev. The utility also is seeking water from the state-border-straddling Snake Valley, for which the engineer will conduct a separate hearing next year. "This is a catastrophic event if this pipeline does not go forth," said Anthony Rogers, a Las Vegas resident who identified himself as an unemployed construction worker. "It will basically shut down Las Vegas. The hotels will not be able to flush their toilets." A rural Utah farmer from the 70-person west desert enclave of Eskdale countered that pumping groundwater and lowering the water table in the region’s interconnected valleys would doom his settlement. "The water that we pump is essential to our existence," David Surlin said, "because we are an agricultural community."...more

The quote that the "hotels will not be able to flush their toilets" cries out for comment. Problem is, Sharon has advised that every response I've come up with so far is not printable. One contained a recommendation on what the urban dwellers could eat, another was a takeoff on the ad "what happens in Vegas", another...well you get the picture.

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