NV; Oct. 7 - Public Comment on SNWA Pipeline

by Great Basin Water Network Friday, Sep. 30, 2011 at 9:20 AM

Please help the Great Basin Water Network, indigenous tribes and many others in voicing their opposition to the SNWA's proposed pipeline from the Snake and Spring Valler aquifer system to Las Vegas that is being planned mostly for the benefit of suburban sprawl developers like Harvey Whittemore. The public hearing will be held in Carson City, though this planned extraction of 41 billion gallons per year will destroy an ecosystem that connects to Great Basin National Park and is a national resource that is for all to share in it's natural state, NOT to water Mr. Whittemore's 16 planned golf courses and 100,000 more homes for sprawl development nearly 50 miles north of the urban core of Las Vegas!



PUBLIC COMMENT SET FOR OCTOBER 7, 8 AM.

• Public comment will be held on Friday, October 7, 2011 starting at 8 a.m. and will be video cast from several locations.

The locations for public comment are the Nevada Legislative Building in Carson City, Room 1214; the Grant Sawyer State Office Building in Las Vegas, Room 4412; and the Great Basin College in Ely, Room 112.

You will have 3 minutes to speak regarding SNWA's applications to pump 41 billion gallons of water per year.

If you cannot comment on October 7, you can submit written comments via U.S. Mail (No e-mails are accepted) anytime until the cutoff at 5PM on Friday, December 2, 2011 to the following address: Susan Joseph-Taylor, Chief Hearing Officer, Nevada Division of Water Resources, 901 South Stewart Street, Suite 2002, Carson City, Nevada 89701.

• The Great Basin Water Network's win at the Nevada Supreme Court took away all of the SNWA's previously awarded water rights. The Nevada State Engineer's rehearing starts on Monday, September 26, 2011 on the Southern Nevada Water Authority's groundwater applications to pump 127,000 acre-feet per year of groundwater from Spring, Cave, Dry Lake, and Delamar Valleys.

The hearing will start at 9 AM in Carson City at the Nevada State Legislature Building, 401 South Carson Street, Room 1214. You can view the hearing online by clicking here on hearing days.

SNWA is scheduled to take 3 weeks for its case followed by a 2 week break. The hearing will reconvene with the protestants' cases (beginning with the Great Basin Water Network representing hundreds of protestants) on Monday, October 31 continuing through Friday November 4, Monday Nov 7 continuing through Thursday Nov 10, and Monday Nov 14 continuing through Friday Nov 18.

http://greatbasinwater.net/pubs/MessagetoGoogleProtestants-t.html


Please take action to make sure your voice is heard.



Have you written your comments on the BLM's Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the proposed pumping project by the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA)? [Email to the BLM is fine.] You still have through October 11, 2011 to submit your comments. Please look at our sample email to the BLM here. Please add your own comments. Your views on the DEIS, the problems you see with it, and with the SNWA proposal are essential for the BLM to hear. You'll find many issues you may wish to raise about the DEIS deficiencies in our EIS guide available here. Or find our sample letter suitable for US mail or email here. Please take a moment right now to be sure the BLM hears from you.


The Great Basin Water Network's win at the Nevada Supreme Court took away all of the SNWA's previously awarded water rights. The Nevada State Engineer's rehearing starts on Monday, September 26, 2011 on the Southern Nevada Water Authority's groundwater applications to pump 127,000 acre-feet per year of groundwater from Spring, Cave, Dry Lake, and Delamar Valleys. The hearing will start at 9 AM in Carson City at the Nevada State Legislature Building, 401 South Carson Street, Room 1214. You can view the hearing online by clicking here on hearing days.

SNWA is scheduled to take 3 weeks for its case followed by a 2 week break. The hearing will reconvene with the protestants' cases (beginning with the Great Basin Water Network representing hundreds of protestants) on Monday, October 31 continuing through Friday November 4, Monday Nov 7 continuing through Thursday Nov 10, and Monday Nov 14 continuing through Friday Nov 18.


Public comment will be held Friday, October 7, 2011 starting at 8 a.m. and will be video cast from several locations. The locations for public comment are the Nevada Legislative Building in Carson City, Room 1214; the Grant Sawyer State Office Building in Las Vegas, Room 4412; and the Great Basin College in Ely, Room 112. You will have 3 minutes to speak regarding SNWA's applications to pump 41 billion gallons of water per year. If you cannot comment on October 7, you can submit written comments via U.S. Mail (No e-mails are accepted) anytime until the cutoff at 5PM on Friday, December 2, 2011 to the following address: Susan Joseph-Taylor, Chief Hearing Officer, Nevada Division of Water Resources, 901 South Stewart Street, Suite 2002, Carson City, Nevada 89701.

Your comments to the BLM on the GWD EIS needed by Oct 11.

NV State Engineer rehearing starts Sept. 26; online viewing available

Nevada State Engineer rehearing public comment Oct 7; written comments accepted until 5 PM on Dec 2, 2011 (no emails).




Check out the GBWN website frequently to stay up on the latest developments;
http://www.greatbasinwater.net/