Two Utah counties appeal ruling in Nevada water case

[XemaSab]

Salt Lake and Utah counties have appealed a Nevada water official's decision to keep them out of a project that would tap groundwater under Snake Valley and the west desert to feed growth in Las Vegas.

Last month, Nevada State Engineer Tracy Taylor denied the two counties' request for "interested party" status, saying the counties should have filed a formal objection in 1989 to the Southern Nevada Water Authority's plans to build a $3.5 billion, 285-mile pipeline.

In a lawsuit filed this week in Nevada state court, the Utah counties allege siphoning water from an aquifer that lies under the two states to feed Las Vegas would cause vegetation to die. If that happens, winds could pick up the destabilized soils and send them in dust-storm clouds to a Wasatch Front already struggling with particulate pollution.

Twenty years ago, when Las Vegas filed its application in Nevada for the project, little was known about the effects of groundwater pumping on air quality, the petition states.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_10136532

[kestrel91316]

1. Don't get me started on what I think of Vegas for trying to STEAL

the aquifer out from under Snake Valley and Great Basin National Park. Those greedy bastards need to wake up and smell the frickin' coffee: their entire city is COMPLETELY UNSUSTAINABLE. It shouldn't even exist. And when Lake Mead goes dry and they have no electricity, all the water in the world piped in from elsewhere to water their lawns and run their fountains won't save their asses.

Bastards. This one is personal. My great-grandfather was one of the original settlers in Snake Valley and it's more home to me than Los Angeles (where I've been for 25 years), though I've never lived there.