Groundwater dispute heats up

The Utah-Nevada dispute is heating up over groundwater in the Snake Valley, which Nevada wants to pump to Las Vegas.

Next week, Utah legislators will travel to the western Utah region of Callao, Juab County, to meet with ranchers and environmentalists worried about what they see as a possible water grab by Nevada. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, residents of the region say they filed a petition with the Nevada Supreme Court challenging a rule that keeps some from asserting official protests against the project.

"I think most of all we need to hear from the folks that live out there and their concerns," said Rep. Jackie Biskupski, D-Salt Lake, who helped organize the trip.

The trip, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, is by the Legislature's Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Interim Committee and the Natural Resources Appropriation Subcommittee.

"The last thing we need is an area where it's just a sandstorm every day," Biskupski said. "That'll just ruin the lives of the people who are there."

Biskupski estimated that at least 20 lawmakers may visit the region. Steve Erickson, a Salt Lake activist who helped organize the visit, said the Utah legislators may meet with some of their Nevada counterparts.

The Nevada state rule says interested parties needed to file a protest at the time of the application for the groundwater, which was in 1989, to have standing now to make an official protest. Plaintiffs, which include the Great Basin and Utah chapters of Trout Unlimited and Defenders of Wildlife, say that violates their constitutional rights and isn't fair as many weren't aware of what was going on in 1989 and others who have water rights today did not own them 17 years ago.

At issue is the "Clark, Lincoln and White Pine Counties Groundwater Development Project," which could pump up to about 176,000 acre-feet of underground water and pipe it to the Las Vegas area.

Five aquifer basins are involved in the project. Two of interest to Utahns are the Snake Valley Project and the Spring Valley Project. Snake Valley straddles the Utah-Nevada line, and its underground water affects ranchers and the environment in both states. Spring Valley is the location of the approximately 4,000-acre Cleveland-Rogers Ranch, owned by the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

The ranch is part of the church's Welfare Services Department and provides assistance to the poor.

An attorney for the LDS Church recently sent a letter to the Nevada state engineer, expressing concern about the amount of water available in Spring Valley and advising that no decision should be made until completion of a groundwater study by the U.S. Geological Survey late next year.

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