- Utah now has the opportunity to make certain state interests are protected for the water of Utah’s West Desert
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By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
There is a new application underway for the water of Utah’s West Desert.
A Nevada Supreme Court ruling dealt a big setback to the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s plan for a 300-mile long pipeline project.
SNWA, Southern Nevada Water Authority, re-filed its applications the very same day the ruling was handed down. In the days that followed, so did other counties and water districts.
Juab County Commissioners’ decision to participate as one of the protesters means that some funds will need to be paid for an extensive water study.
“I suggest we table Millard County’s funding request until we can go over the budget and try to find the funds,” said Chad Winn, commissioner.
The question raised by the judges is whether water rights applications dating back to 1947 that were not acted upon by the state engineer within a year can be considered valid. The year time frame, until 2003, was mandated by Nevada law.
A unanimous Supreme Court, in a January 28 ruling, pointed out that SNWA’s water rights applications in Spring Valley near the Nevada-Utah line were filed in 1989 but not acted upon for approximately 20 years.
The day of the ruling, Utah Governor Gary Herbert suspended negotiations ordered by Congress in 2004 with Nevada over Snake Valley water.
“This ruling significantly changes the landscape upon which our ongoing discussions have been based,” Herbert was quoted as saying.
The state now has the opportunity to make certain state interests are protected.
The somewhat ambiguous ruling was seen as a victory by those challenging their exclusion from participating in hearings before the state engineer.
“SNWA has refiled and is starting the process over again,” said LuWayne Walker, Juab County Commissioner.
Millard County was the only one who protested some 17 years ago, said Val Jones, commission chairman. For that reason, though Juab County was supportive and was trying to do all they could to prevent there being an unstudied water grab, they were unable to enter protest legally.
“Millard County Commissioners were the only ones who were on the official protest list,” said Jones.
Kathy Walker, Millard County Commissioner, contacted Juab County Commissioners about the new possibility, said Winn.
“She spoke with us a few months ago regarding a groundwater flow study that Millard county was undertaking in conjunction with the USGS (U.S. Geological Survey),” said Winn.
She explained that the 2010 costs would be funded by USGS paying 40 percent or $86,040 and by the participating counties paying, in total, 60 percent of the cost of $129,000.
It is hoped that, in addition to Millard and Juab, Tooele, Utah and Salt Lake Counties will all participate in the cost of conducting the fairly large groundwater level collection effort.
CIB (Community Impact Board) funds may be available to cover a small amount of the funding but board members of the CIB were not encouraging and suggested that funding be collected from interested counties.
The $3.5 billion project to pump water from rural areas to diversify Las Vegas’ water supply does not sit well with Juab County Commissioners.
“This topic has certainly consumed a lot of my time and the time of West Desert residents,” said Jay Banta, manager of the Fish Springs Refuge located in the West Desert of Juab County.
“We don’t have much head pressure on our springs at the refuge,” he said. “The springs rise because of a fault line and, if the amount of water being proposed as part of the pipeline is taken, it will endanger Fish Springs.”
It would also further endanger the spotted frog.
Water law was designed to consider outflow, beneficial use and historic use.
Nevada Supreme Court found that many people who initially filed protests had died or moved away by the time hearings were held, and others who moved into affected areas, were unaware of the applications.
The Supreme Court sent the case back to Senior District Judge Norman Robison to determine.
An agreement that would allocate water in the Snake Valley aquifer equally between Utah and Nevada doesn’t make sense because it assumes an excess of water in the West Desert.
Cecil Garland, who has ranched the West Desert near Callao for 36 years as stated many times that there is no surplus water in Snake Valley. In fact, he has stated, the region is the epicenter of a state-wide drought.
“I think we can believe what Cecil Garland says,” said Jones.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority wants to build a 300-mile pipeline that would siphon 50,000 to 60,000 acre-feet from the valley to support current and anticipated growth in Las Vegas. An acre-foot supplies up to two households for a year.
“It would be terrible if Snake Valley soils would blow away if the water-table were to drop more than 100 feet,” said Jones.
Dust storms are already a concern with the poor air quality in the Salt Lake Valley. They would only be worse if the West Desert became a dust bowl.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) was formed in 1991 to manage Southern Nevada’s water needs on a regional basis. The Authority comprises seven member agencies including the City of Henderson, City of Las Vegas, City of North Las Vegas, Big Bend Water District (Laughlin), Clark County Water Reclamation District and the Las Vegas Valley Water District.
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