Snake Valley

A plan, hatched largely beyond the public eye, to divvy up water in an already arid Utah desert and send it to Las Vegas has drawn the ire of citizens, conservationists, and elected officials. The controversial Snake Valley water deal is now the subject of a series of citizen meetings as critics try to learn why details of the four-year negotiations that led to the water deal remain secret,  reports Patty Henetz of the Salt Lake Tribune.

 The plan would divide water in the aquifer that runs under Utah and Nevada, and use it to feed growth in Las Vegas. "We don't have any surplus water in Snake Valley. For goodness' sake, we're the epicenter of the drought," rancher Cecil Garland said during a citizens meeting this week.

 Critics warn that a drop in the water table could kick up giant toxic dust storms. The soils that would blow away could contain mercury, deadly fungal spores, and radioactive particles, yet another legacy of nuclear tests in Nevada.

 The current recession has already forced many to revisit their history texts for information about the Great Depression and how we got there. Maybe it's time to re-read the chapter on the Dust Bowl.

After four years of negotiation, Utah and Nevada have come up with a plan to divvy up water reserves from the Snake Valley. The controversial plan would divide whatever water has not yet been allocated from the aquifer equally between the states. Critics said the plan is flawed and could disrupt an already fragile water equilibrium, drying up meadows and triggering dust storms, writes Patty Henetz of the Salt Lake Tribune. Proponents say the water-sharing agreement is necessary to maintain growth in the Las Vegas area.

Water wars go way back in the West, but water stewardship is also critical to its future, as Interior SecretaryKen Salazar says here in this recent video clip from the Billings Gazette.

Such decisions deserve careful thought, and at least the most recent proposal postpones until 2019 a final decision on a 285-mile, $3.5 billion pipeline that would slake thirsty Las Vegas.

"The point is to avoid a water war that would have to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court," Henetz writes from her interview with Mike Styler, executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources.

The agreement includes a $3 million "mitigation fund," but that couldn't begin to mitigate the real problems.

 "You can't drink dollar bills," said Steve Erickson, a Utah resident speaking for the Great Basin Water Network and quoted in the Tribune's story. "Once the water's gone, it's gone."