Snake Valley Festival in Baker NV fights SNWA ‘Water Grab’ (tags)
The annual Snake Valley Festival held in Baker, NV featured signs focusing on protecting local aquifers from the Southern Nevada Water Authority's proposed pipeline to Las Vegas. Residents of the Snake and Spring Valleys are trying to raise awareness that if the SNWA pipeline is built the water beneath their feet will be taken to Las Vegas for the benefit of golf courses, fountains and other unsustainable development. Entire spring fed ecosystems will collapse and species like the spring snail risk extinction. Public comment sessions will be held throughout Nevada in the coming few weeks to address the concerns about aquifer depletion by the SNWA pipeline.
A Q&A with environmental lawyer Simeon Herskovits (GBWN) (tags)
Environmental lawyer Simeon Herskovits discusses the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) and their proposed water pipeline from the rural aquifers of Snake Valley to Las Vegas as being primarily for the interests of developers (Whittemore) on cheap land (purchased from Aerojet) much further north of the urban region. Indigenous tribes, ratepayers, ranchers and the ecosystem will all pay the price for Whittemore's wealth from the latest water heist.
Nevada Tribes Walk 272 Miles to Protest SNWA Pipeline (tags)
On Saturday, Native Americans representing the Confederate Tribes of the Goshute Reservation, Wells Colony, Elko/TeMoke Tribe, Battle Mountain and Yomba Shoshone along with Tribal members from the Northern Ute, Cheyenne-Arapaho, Navajo, Cherokee and non-natives began a run/walk from Wells to Caliente, traveling about 272 miles in protest of Southern Nevada Water Authority’s groundwater project.
SNWA Whistleblower Shows Ratepayers Bilked for Spring Valley Ranches (tags)
The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) has used rate hikes and government subsidies to purchase ranches at six times above market value to appear as landholders for water rights for their proposed pipeline. An employee of the SNWA turned whistleblower has come forward with evidence of bribery of local officials and yearly losses of money on the SNWA ranches. In related news Sen. Mike Roberson introduced SB 232 with bipartisan support to require greater transparency by the SNWA and would require the water authority to obtain approval from the PUC before increasing water rates.
Sen. Roberson versus the (SNWA) water monster (tags)
Speaking out against the powerful SNWA can have consequences, though some individuals like Steve Sisolak and Mike Roberson are putting their careers at risk in order to protect the spring fed ecosystems that would be destroyed by the SNWA pipeline.
Water Theft from Aquifers Benefit Developers at Expense of Ecosystems (tags)
Water theft from rural aquifers for the short term benefit of Las Vegas developers is a crime against the ecosystems and human communities that depend upon their water for survival. The theft of the aquifer water by SNWA is a sequel of the Owens Valley water grab by LADWP nearly a century ago. Any ELF actvists looking for training sites have over 200 miles of practice targets if this pipeline goes through. Maybe someone should send LADWP a message that water theft can be stopped by preventing transport. When the pipeline is ruptured in numerous places this water theft will become a more costly endeavor! The LADWP and SNWA needs to stop stealing water from aquifers and desert lakes!
BLM Support of SNWA Pipeline is "Pure Folly" (tags)
The decision last week by the BLM to support the SNWA pipeline shows their disregard for science and inability to protect species that are under their watch. The developers who plan projects like Coyote Springs 50 miles north of Las Vegas are dependent upon this pipeline, NOT Las Vegas. Just more hype so that some developers (Whittemore/Seeno/etc...) can profit at the expense of the desert spring ecosystems in Snake and Spring Valleys. There isn't enough water in these aquifers to support the suburban sprawl of Coyote Springs 100,000 homes, golf courses, etc...
Spring Snails Survival Threatened by SNWA Pipeline (tags)
The spring snails of the Great Basin region are threatened by construction of the SNWA pipeline to Las Vegas. Spring snails are vital as primary consumer herbivores to reduce algae and thereby prevent eutrophication, also being the base of the trophic food web pyramid that supports trout, eagles and humans. Spring snails should be protected under ESA and are more valuable than golf courses and sprawl development north of Las Vegas.
Goshute Tribes Fight SNWA Pipeline to Vegas (tags)
The clock is ticking on the 60-day review period for the environmental assessment report on a controversial water pipeline along the Nevada-Utah border that the Goshute Confederated Tribes say would draw down their own water supplies and impede economic development as well as compromise sacred sites. The eight-foot-diameter pipeline would carry water 300 miles from eastern Nevada to Las Vegas, pumping about 84,000 acre-feet of water annually from Goshute and other tribal lands.
How could they [SNWA] not have known? (tags)
Drought and over extended water rights to developers resulted in the SNWA pushing the panic button and proposing the rural water grab pipeline as a needed measure to prevent an "urban collapse" scenario. The SNWA propaganda may be serving the interests of developers looking to build suburban sprawl along the U.S. 93 corridor parallel to the proposed pipeline route.
No SNWA Pipeline! Let's Keep the SPRING in Spring Valley! (tags)
539 members of the Goshute tribe in western Utah are all that stand between the Southern Nevada Water Authority and a proposed multi-billion-dollar pipeline that would “pump billions of gallons of groundwater” from the Goshutes’ home in Spring Valley “to parched Las Vegas,” in a 92" wide pipe that would run for 300 miles.
Tribal Leaders gather in Las Vegas to oppose SNWA water pipeline (tags)
More than 25 Tribal Leaders, from four states, will gather in Las Vegas to issue a joint statement asking the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to deny the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s (SNWA) proposed groundwater pipeline project application.
Goshutes battle to save their sacred water from SNWA pipeline (tags)
Elders of the Goshute Nation and many scientists agree that removal of aquifer water from eastern Nevada with the SNWA proposed pipeline for Las Vegas suburban development will destroy the spring fed ecosystems that the goshute have depended upon for their cultural and physical survival. Preparations for spiritual and mental battle to protect sacred Goshute water are beginning.
NRDC Propaganda Praises Pipeline Pat (tags)
Propaganda from the NRDC praises SNWA pipeline proponent General Manager Pat Mulroy for her brilliant plan to heist groundwater from under the Goshute Nation and deliver it to her developer friends like Mr. Harvey Whittemore, an early funder of the pipeline. In the process of depleting the aquifer an entire spring fed ecosystem with endemic spring snails will be destroyed, but hey, we need more suburban sprawl in the desert so Whittemore and Mulroy can have a nice retirement at all of our expense!
SNWA General Manager Mulroy; A Legacy of Cultural Genocide Against the Goshute Nation (tags)
The use of propaganda to coerce transfer of indigenous populations from their homeland and cultural base is a violation of the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and could be defined as cultural genocide. Will this be the legacy of SNWA General Manager Patricia Mulroy's pipeline?
NV State Engineer Rules Against Goshute Tribe and in Favor of SNWA Pipeline (tags)
The Nevada State Engineer's decision last week supports the SNWA proposed pipeline despite numerous objections from the indigenous Goshute Nation and many other scientists who warn that the finite aquifers of the Snake and Spring Valley targeted by the SNWA pipeline would not sustain this amount of extraction without causing ecosystem collapse as springs dry and species become extinct. It could be said that removal of water from the sovereign Goshute Nation by the SNWA is a form of cultural genocide.
Las Vegans speak out against expensive SNWA pipeline project (tags)
Anyone who wishes to comment to the Nevada State Engineer to protest the SNWA pipeline project and help protect endemic spring snails from extinction can do so today on this website link. The SNWA pipeline has been described as an economic stimulus plan for developers at the expense of ratepayers, rural people and spring fed ecosystems.
SNWA Scare Tactics Attempt to Coerce Vegas Ratepayers into Supporting Pipeline (tags)
The proposed SNWA pipeline is running into additional obstacles, Gen. Manager Mulroy's claims of drought on the Colorado and threats by terrorists are exposed as fear-mongering methods to scare the people of Las Vegas into paying for this $15 billion dollar pipeline that would mostly benefit developers such as Coyote Spring's Harvey Whittemore, who would make $30 billion from an additional 100,000 homes.
Response 2 SNWA; NO Water Theft 4 Developers! (Part 2) (tags)
part 2
NV; Oct. 7 - Public Comment on SNWA Pipeline (tags)
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 Needed on SNWA Snake Valley Pipeline to Vegas! (tags)
Another chance for members of the public to comment to the BLM and share their views on the proposed SNWA pipeline from Snake and Spring Valley aquifers to the Las Vegas region. Please request the BLM take the NO ACTION alternative and deny the pipeline access across public lands held by the BLM. We do not need any more aquifers being overdrafted for extra golf courses and suburban sprawl development (ie., Coyote Springs from Harvey Whittemore), we need flowing springs and seeps for our ecosystems!
Nevada Supreme Court Rules Against SNWA Water Grab. (tags)
Recent articles discuss the ruling by Nevada Supreme Court Judge Robinson that prevents another potential water grab by the SNWA and their developer funders. Additional research reveals the intent of the SNWA pipeline from northern aquifers would benefit the developer of Coyote Springs, one Harvey Whittemore. The urban residents of Las Vegas would cover the bill of SNWA's misadventures in sheep ranching, pipeline lawsuits and other related issues for the benefit of some far out developer's scheme.
Rainwater Harvesting; Alternatives to SNWA Pipeline Project (tags)
Another option for Las Vegas is to outfit roofs with rainwater harvesting systems, both for collecting water and to reduce runoff that creates flash floods. This would create jobs and result in permanant solutions to increasing water supplies, unlike the SNWA's proposed pipeline from the Snake Valley aquifer that would cost billions and most likely overdraft the aquifer in less than 10 years time. Though the pipeline's promise of indefinite future supplies (real or imagined) could make some developers like Harvey Whittemore happy in the short term!!
NV; New Cave Species at Risk from SNWA Pipeline (tags)
Two new cave species were discovered near Great Basin Natn'l Park's Lehman Caves, part of the same cave aquifer system that SNWA plans to pump billions of gallons away from with their proposed pipeline. The species found were a shrimp called an ostracod and a cave millipede. Both depend on groundwater in caves that would be taken to Whittemore's suburban sprawl developments outside of Vegas city limits.
SNWA's 300 Mile Pipeline to Las Vegas Faces Growing Opposition (tags)
At a recent SNWA board meeting, the SNWA's proposed 300 mile pipeline from Snake Valley aquifer to Las Vegas has met with a few bumps in the road, mainly strong public opposition and increasing hesitancy on the part of SNWA board members to jump into this plan without a safety net. Though the SNWA board voted to continue seeking an EIS for the pipeline, the reality of future costs and risks of an overdrawn aquifer made several board members question their previous zealotry in following Gen. Manager Pat Mulroy down her pipeline's path for much longer.
Gambling with Extinction; Snails, Dace, Chub & Trout Threatened by SNWA Pipeline to Vegas (tags)
Petition for endangered species status and a lawsuit by conservation groups to protect spring snails could delay or even stop the destructive aquifer draining pipeline to Las Vegas proposed by SNWA.
Help Las Vegas Conserve Water! No Aquifer Drawdown! (tags)
We need your help to protect the Snake and Spring Valley aquifers from being drawn down by Las Vegas water demands. One way people can help is to encourage a diversity of water conservation measures that Las Vegas and Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) could try as alternatives to pumping and draining distant aquifers yet intact. People are given the chance to send SNWA their ideas for abstracts for an upcoming Water Innovations Conference later in '09, abstracts due by 1/30/09. Even if you cannot go there, send them your ideas for water conservation anyway!!
Snake & Spring Valley Aquifer Water Conservation (NV) (tags)
There are several reasons to avoid the proposed pipeline project diverting water from the Snake and Spring Valley aquifers to the Las Vegas region as planned by Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA). This report will provide background information as to the physical and geological characteristics of the two aquifers mentioned above, including ecological components most likely affected by potential overdraft from the SNWA pipeline.