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Aug. 17, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Critics of pipeline project to flood crucial meeting

Pipeline foes don't expect to change vote

By HENRY BREAN
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Video from Snake Valley

Pipeline vote

The Southern Nevada Water Authority board on Thursday will vote on whether to continue preparations for a multibillion-dollar pipeline network to tap groundwater in rural valleys across eastern Nevada.

The meeting will start at 9 a.m. in the board's meeting room on the seventh floor of the Molasky Corporate Center, 100 City Parkway.

LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL


White Pine County Commissioner Gary Perea speaks last Thursday to a group in Baker about plans to pipe water from their Snake and Spring valleys to Southern Nevada. The group plans to voice its opposition to the pipeline plan at Thursday's meeting of the Southern Nevada Water Authority. Perea is making arrangements with the White Pine County School District to rent a bus for people going to Las Vegas for the meeting.
Photo by Jason Bean/Las Vegas Review-Journal

At the north end of the pipe, residents are crowding into community centers and renting school buses for the trip down.

At the south end, officials are bracing for a crowd that could overwhelm their meeting room.

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    • So go the preparations for Thursday's referendum on the future of a plan to tap billions of gallons of groundwater from across eastern Nevada and pump it to Las Vegas.

    At the request of Southern Nevada Water Authority chief Pat Mulroy, the agency's board will cast an "up-or-down vote" on whether to continue seeking permits and environmental approvals for the project.

    Pipeline opponents plan to be there in force, including a contingent from Snake Valley, the 2,760-square-mile groundwater basin that straddles the Nevada-Utah border and lies at the northeastern end of the authority's proposed pipeline.

    Mulroy said she called for the vote because she wants board members to reaffirm their support for the project amid increasing opposition.

    She knows the critics will pack the room.

    "We're ready for it," Mulroy said. "I think all the board members know this could be a long meeting."

    If it is built, the proposed network of pipes, pumps and reservoirs could stretch about 300 miles and supply Las Vegas with 134,000 acre-feet of groundwater a year, enough for almost 270,000 homes.

    The project is expected to cost between $2 billion and $3.5 billion, according to authority estimates now several years old.

    Last Thursday night, several dozen Snake Valley residents gathered at the community center in the Nevada border town of Baker to discuss their plan of attack for this week.

    The strategy meeting was organized by White Pine County Commissioner Gary Perea, who has lived in Snake Valley for 32 years.

    He said the group that turned out included a mix of newcomers to the valley and people whose roots there go back three or four generations.

    He expects 50 to 75 people from the area to make the 300-mile trip south for this Thursday's meeting.

    To accommodate some of them, Perea is making arrangements with the White Pine County School District to rent one of the buses the high school uses for away games.

    Superintendent Bob Dolezal said they get requests like that from time to time, usually from scout troops and church groups.

    With no local transit company to speak of, the district usually tries to help out when it can.

    "It's a you-can't-get-there-from-here kind of thing," Dolezal said.

    North Las Vegas Mayor Shari Buck, who chairs the water authority board, said she is a little worried that the room where the board meets might not have space for everyone.

    "There are partitions. We're going to make it as big as we can make it," Buck said.

    There will be a sign-up sheet for those who want to address the board. People representing the same group will be asked to pick someone to speak to limit repetition.

    "I'll try to keep things orderly," Buck said. "I don't think it will be contentious. Passionate, yes. It won't be contentious, at least not from our end."

    On Wednesday, the White Pine Commission unanimously approved a resolution calling on the water authority board to vote against continued work on the pipeline.

    The Ely City Council will hold a special meeting Wednesday afternoon to adopt a similar resolution.

    Not all of the opposition is expected to come from Snake Valley. A number of Las Vegas Valley residents have spoken out against the project in the past and might do so again on Thursday.

    Among them is Chris Giunchigliani, who said she might speak not as a Clark County commissioner, but as a resident and a taxpayer.

    Giunchigliani said she was "the only no vote" on the pipeline when she served on the water authority board last year.

    Now she sees the valley's economic slump and decline in growth as an opportunity to re-evaluate the project.

    "I've never agreed with it as a policy," Giunchigliani said. "Growth will never come back to what it was. It's time to really look at how we can live within our means."

    Buck previously predicted a strong vote, though maybe not unanimous, in favor of pressing on with the pipeline. She still feels that way. "I think it would be very unwise to leave this valley without a backup plan."

    Also Thursday, board members will vote on the authority's portion of a new water agreement between Nevada and Utah over the Snake Valley.

    The authority is a party to the sharing deal but does not get any water as a direct result of it.

    One provision of the agreement would require the authority to establish a $3 million fund to pay for any damage its proposed groundwater pumping may cause to existing water users in Snake Valley.

    Buck said the board will hold the pipeline vote first and then discuss the agreement between Nevada and Utah.

    "If we're just going to junk the whole thing, there's no need for the two-state agreement," she said. "But I don't see that happening."

    Perea said pipeline opponents also will use Thursday's meeting to air their disappointment with the Snake Valley deal.

    Chief among their complaints is the limited amount of time the public has been given to weigh in on it, he said.

    "Apparently we only have 30 days for input ... and they've been working on that agreement for four years."

    Perea has no illusions about how the board will vote on the two-state deal or the pipeline.

    "I would be surprised if we could actually get a positive vote in our direction," he said. "I am realistic."

    But if just two or three of the board's seven members voted against the pipeline, it would be a victory for the opposition, Perea said.

    Beyond that, their goal is to make themselves heard.

    "We kind of feel like we don't have a choice," Perea said. "There is no surplus water here."

    If the water authority is allowed to pump, the water table will drop, the plants will die and the valley will turn into a dustbowl, he said.

    As for what would happen after that, "Plain and simple, we're going to have to leave."

    Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean @reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350.

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    Fair and Balanced Fred wrote on August 17, 2009 08:09 PM: James Bond sez: "Did you know if you dig deep enough anywhere on earth, you will hit sea water?"

    Please support the above claim with as many citations as possible.


    douglas wrote on August 17, 2009 08:01 PM: those concerned citizens who are certain that las vegas is "too big" [population wise ?] have a few immediate options...

    1] demand the instant ouster of all illegal infiltrators. don't they consume water ?

    2] those who are most adamant about excess population must immediately relocate to some other area they feel is *not* over crowded. that of course would be putting their money where their mouth is.

    3] demand of the "change" administration that they adopt the communist china policy of one child per family. do not children consumer water ?

    4] send all pets to a soylent green plant. do not pets consumer water ?

    5] recycle all toilet/waste water, kinda like they do in the space stations. at least get the big chunks and undissolved vitamin pills out. burp.

    those options might forgo the need for the importation of any water from anywhere.


    James Bond wrote on August 17, 2009 05:42 PM: Did you know if you dig deep enough anywhere on earth, you will hit sea water? I'd like the LVRJ to do an article on how far you would have to dig? How much money it would cost? The environmental effects. How long would it take to dig a hole and reach sea water, then pump it up, and desalinate it? Then use the water to rejuvenate lake mead and the city. Would it cost more than $3B? My gut says no.


    beacon wrote on August 17, 2009 05:16 PM: Pat Mulroy will do whatever is needed to overgrow Las Vegas, putting even more people at risk when the water finally does run out, and it will! Can you spell f-i-n-i-t-e resource, Pat? What will your legacy be? The dragon woman who grew the biggest ghost town in Nevada? How about some limits on growth? Oh, no, we can't do that! The money makers will make their money and run leaving the other poor folks to deal with the problem. But, there are so many gamblers in LV that I'm sure they all think they're winners and will never be caught off guard.


    Jackov wrote on August 17, 2009 04:57 PM: Over 60% of the water supply is wasted on lawns.

    Ban and remove non-native lawns before diverting more water supplies and destroying more wildlife to support stupid humans.


    2zero wrote on August 17, 2009 03:48 PM: Since Pat will be wearing pants (and a strap on) at the meeting, it will enable Richard Bunker to be up the skirt of Chairwomen Shari Buck; new meaning to the old saying "Buck UP"!


    2zero wrote on August 17, 2009 03:32 PM: If you take $3 billion and divide it by the "270,000" homes the pipeline will serve that is more than $11,000.00 per home.

    Simple solution Ms. Mulroy; ask the Board to approve a $10,000.00 per "NEW" home water system expansion fee/charge. When you get the money in hand build away....LOL


    Scott Klesper wrote on August 17, 2009 03:32 PM: I don't understand why our brainless officals let Vegas get so big. No one likes it, it has caused nothing but one problem after another, they are destroying the environment around us, destroying the mountain ranges for gosh sakes, where is the common sense in that, for more tax dollars? All the new being built, look at it,all needs water for it's landscaping, real smart move there. Look around at all the empty properties everywhere, commercial,industrial, residential you name it empty. They waste money on projects like that stupid tram because they were right and would not listen to reason, see where they got us. They are'nt even trying to come up with water saving ways of doing things they are jumping in with both feet again on a project that will help destroy the entire state not just Vegas, you can not keep taking away from the environment and expect no ramifications down the road. It won't help the economy or unemployment so why are we looking at this as our solution>? Our officials need to get booted out and we need business people put in office that have common sense and know how to work out problems without letting all the rich and power players in this town influence them, fat chance I know.


    HomeIsNevada wrote on August 17, 2009 02:24 PM: I am absolutely against this.

    This pipeline would steal water from our neighbors to the north, while we in the south have cheaper alternatives at our fingertips. Those include desalinization procedures that can be powered by wind, solar, and hydroelectric operations. The north would then be able to take an equal share of the river as we do.

    Also, why do we not explore the potential of pumping up salt water from below 3000 feet, and desalinizing that water using wind and solar methods?

    The above is all possible, but it has not been discussed!


    Dan wrote on August 17, 2009 02:22 PM: It's are water, pipe it to Las Vegas. If you don't we will have ACORN run securty checks on anyone that gets in the way.


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