Is Nevada pressing Utah for a water accord?
Las Vegas agency wants to pump from a valley on states' border
The Southern Nevada Water Authority of Las Vegas has been eyeing the underground water resources of two valleys — the Spring Valley, entirely in Nevada, and the Snake Valley, which runs along the border of Utah and Nevada. The authority would like to build wells and a pipeline to pump 91,000 acre-feet of water from the first area and 25,000 acre-feet from the second, sending it to Las Vegas.
However, some Utah ranchers, conservationists and political leaders have expressed doubt that so much water can be extracted without harming agriculture, ranching and nature.
Cecil Garland, a rancher in Callao, Juab County, who is noted for his environmental concerns, said a rumor is circulating that Nevada pressured Utah officials to come up with the agreement.
The rumor is that Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, implied that "if Utah didn't get on the ball, he wouldn't help" with a bill Utah lawmakers want to have passed by Congress. The Deseret Morning News was unable to get a comment from Reid's office by press time.
They have been hearing opposition from Nevadans to the idea. If so, backers of the project may be in a hurry to see an agreement between Utah and Nevada on the water before a new governor can be elected and derail the project.
A bill sponsored by Reid plays a role in the debate. The 2004 Lincoln County Land Act, as it's often called, mandates that before water is taken out of any basin shared between the two states, "there has to be an agreement between the state (Nevada) and Utah about how those waters will be shared and how they'll be developed," said J.C. Davis, spokesman for the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
"We are collecting data that would allow us to enter into an agreement," said Boyd Clayton of the Utah Division of Water Rights.
The division has been reviewing rights of ranchers on the Utah side of the border, checking Snake Valley's hydrology and looking into the needs of sensitive species in the area.
Utah officials are discussing with their Nevada counterparts how an agreement would be structured, he said.
Besides sensitive species that have to be protected, Clayton said, the division is concerned about ranchers' water rights. The rights "need to be protected, and that's why we're tabulating those and making a record of those," he said.
You can be the first to comment on this story.