By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Juab County does not want Snake Valley to be included
in a Nevada proposal to take water from the area to use in
Las Vegas, Nevada.
"We have asked them to drop segment #8 from their
proposal," said Val Jones, commission chairman. "We have
concern for the water-users in the West Desert and for Fish
Springs, which is a natural wetland."
Another meeting will be held to discuss the issue of
Nevada taking water from the area to serve Las Vegas.
Utah Department of Natural Resources chief and head
negotiator for the UT-NV agreement Mike Styler will visit
Snake Valley on March 23.
He will bring Utah water rights chief Boyd Clayton
and, a bonus, Utah Lt. Governor Gary Herbert.
Also present at the West Desert School will be the
Juab County commissioners. Millard County Commissioners will
attend a meeting in Garrison.
While the exact schedule has not been finalized,
Skyler, Clayton and Herbert will be at Dean Baker's place in
Baker, Nev., at 9 a.m. MDT to take Dean's water tour. Baker
farms on both side of the state border and contends springs
are dried up and vegetation is dead in parts of Snake Valley
where underground water is pumped.
The three state officials will have a meeting in the
Garrison area late morning or early afternoon.
They will then travel to West Desert School for
another meeting at 3:30 p.m. MDT.
This is the first time the Juab commissioners will
have been to West Desert as a group since the commission has
been reformed following the November elections.
They will remain, following the official meeting, and
talk to West Desert ranchers about the so-called water
grab.
Chad Winn, commissioner, and Jones went to a water
meeting held recently to discuss the proposal.
Present at the meeting, said Winn, was a congressional
aide and Mark Ward, the attorney representing the interests
of the West Desert ranchers, and Millard and Juab County
Commissioners.
The state legislature, said Jones, has directed the
BLM to consider the right-of-way issue.
"As part of the testing, three wells have been drilled
where water has been found," said Jones. "After pumping
2,400 gallons a minute for 24 hours, there was a draw-down
of three-feet."
He said the data showing the recovery rate was not
completed.
Two other wells drilled were not helpful to the study
because they did not produce the needed water.
"As a cooperating agency, we are seated at the table,"
said Jones.
The meeting was well-run, said Winn.
"The facilitator was good," he said. "No one was
intimidated and all in attendance could make comment."
LuWayne Walker, commissioner, said Fish Springs
National Wildlife Refuge is important and water must be
maintained to support it.
The Refuge encompasses 17,992 acres between two small
mountain ranges.
Five major springs and several lesser springs and
seeps flow from a faultline at the base of the eastern front
of the craggy Fish Springs Mountain Range. These
mineral-laden, saline springs provide virtually all of the
water for the Refuge's 10,000-acre marsh system, a home for
5000 - 6000 wintering birds.
During their recent session, the state legislature
passed, unopposed, a resolution about the Utah-Nevada
groundwater issue.
HJR1 passed the Senate by 26-0, three not voting, and
the House by 73-2, two not voting.
The measure concerns plans by the Las Vegas Water
District to pump underground water from two aquifers and
send it to the Las Vegas area. One of these is in Snake
Valley, whose water is both in eastern Nevada and western
Utah.
The Snake Valley project would use about 27,000
acre-feet of water, which worries ranchers and
conservationists concerning the impact on resources in both
states.
The resolution calls on Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr. to
consider the consequences of the project, involve the
citizens in any agreement with Nevada and "refrain from
entering into the agreement with Nevada until scientific
studies have been completed."
The resolution calls for involvement by local
residents in decision-making and sets a precedent for future
decisions.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) is moving
forward with its proposed Clark, Lincoln and White Pine
Counties Groundwater Development Project that would tap
groundwater supplies from seven hydrological basins and
convey this new water resource 200 miles southward to the
Las Vegas area.
Costing about $2 billion, SNWA plans to drill 146
water production wells in south central and southwestern
Nevada that will produce up to 200,000 acre-feet of new
water supply.
Receiving just over 4-inches of annual precipitation,
the Project will allow SNWA to meet its future water needs
for one of the driest and fastest growing areas in the
United States.
The SNWA Project has raised concerns in Utah. Most of
the groundwater development occurs within the boundaries of
Nevada, except one segment of the Project, which will draw
20,000-25,000 acre-feet of water from Snake Valley located
in eastern Nevada and western Utah.
Most of the valley is located on Utah's side of the
border. Also of concern is the belief that the groundwater
aquifer in Spring Valley, located west of Snake Valley, is
connected to the Snake Valley aquifer, which may further
adversely impact Snake Valley ground water levels.
There is opposition to the Project by the
environmental community and ranchers in the Snake Valley.
Their concern is that pumping will lower the groundwater
table damaging the valley's ecosystem and ranching
enterprises.
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