Water Grab News Archives — 2013

December 26, 2013 — Water grab fails court test — In scathing language, a state court judge has overturned the state water engineer's approval of the planned transfer of water in eastern Nevada and western Utah to southern Nevada to feed growth — Newsreview.com

December 17, 2013 — In our opinion: Nevada judge gets it right in water dispute with Utah — Desert News.com

December 11, 2013 — District Court judge strikes down plan to pump water from rural counties — Carson City: Although state Engineer Jason King is disappointed, environmental groups have hailed the court ruling that blocks plans by the Southern Nevada Water Authority to pipe an estimated 84,000 acre feet of water from rural Nevada to serve Las Vegas — Las Vegas Sun

December 03, 2013 — Las Vegas water rate increases approved through 2017 —On Tuesday, the Clark County Commission, sitting as the board for the Las Vegas Valley Water District, unanimously approved a series of annual rate hikes scheduled to begin in January and top out in 2017 — Las Vegas Review Journal

November 21, 2013 — Work on Lake Mead water intake leaves valley down to its final straw — Nobody panic, but for the next five months or so our entire water supply will depend on a single pipe and pump station at Lake Mead. The Southern Nevada Water Authority has shut down one of the two intake pipes used to deliver water from the lake to every home and business in the Las Vegas Valley and Boulder City — Las Vegas Review Journal

November 14, 2013 — New study: Dust, warming portend dry future for the Colorado River — colorado.edu

November 02, 2013 — 100 Years of Water: Owens Valley residents still worry about water losses to L.A. — Rancher John Lacey eyed a rising pasture where water once flowed when his great-grandfather settled in the Owens Valley to find gold. A century after Los Angeles diverted the Owens River, grass once suitable for feeding cows has long been replaced by desert shrubs — dailynews

October 31, 2013 — Governor begins work on 50 year water vision for Utah — www.4utah.com

October 23, 2013 — Rethinking big water — Las Vegas has long served as a stereotype of human excess: gambling, drinking, sex, all-you-can-eat buffets. But the latest chapter is playing out away from the strip, in the part of the valley where two decades of booming development have swelled the population to 2 million residents who rely on a dwindling water supply — Greenbiz.com

October 18, 2013 — Business of Water summit stirs economic support for water conservation —“In the West, when you touch water, you touch everything.” Sen. Mark Udall repeated that famous quote by Colorado congressman Wayne Aspinall at a unique gathering Friday of corporate forces working to protect and sustain the encumbered Colorado River — Denverpost.com

October 18, 2013 — Colorado River faces most critical snow season in recent years — Las Vegas Review Journal

October 17, 2013 — Baker Mourns Garrett Loss — The tiny hamlet of Baker, Nevada will mourn the passing of one of its most famous and vocal residents this week as Jo Anne Garret is laid to rest. . . . As SNWA pursued its goal to acquire water to pipe to Las Vegas, Jo Anne became one of the public faces opposing the groundwater project. She was a founding member of the Board of the Great Basin Water Network. — coyte-tv.com

September 05, 2013 — $12 million emergency fix sought to ensure water flow from Lake Mead — With Lake Mead shrinking and a new deep-water straw still far from finished, the Southern Nevada Water Authority plans to declare an emergency and fast-track a new $12 million construction project aimed at securing the valley’s water supply through next summer — RJ.com

August 16, 2013 — Feds announce cuts to releases from Lake Powell — sltrib.com

August 03, 2013 — Managing demand for Colorado River water about to get expensive — Federal water experts and climatologists on Friday issued a grim report on the future of the Colorado River watershed to lawmakers from around the West in Las Vegas — Las Vegas Sun

July 17, 2013 — A Q & A with environmental lawyer Simeon Herskovits — Simeon Herskovits was once on track to be a lawyer for business interests on Wall Street, but a calling to address critical issues of environmental, social and economic justice brought him to the Southwest. A former staff attorney and director of the Western Environmental Law Center’s southwest office his permanent office is now in Taos, N.M., where he is the president of the firm Advocates for Community and the Environment. He represents Great Basin Water Network, White Pine County and a host of others working to stop the Groundwater Development Program of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the $15 billion plan to pump groundwater from rural Nevada. — Las Vegas City Life
Download PDF

July 14, 2013 — Van Dam: Fill Lake Mead first — The Colorado River has gone from a wild, untamed river in the days of John Wesley Powell to the most dammed and controlled major river in the world today. It provides water to 38 million residents of the Southwest and 4 million acres of irrigation for farms — Salt Lake Tribune

July 08, 2013 — Suit filed against BLM land management in NV — A conservation group is calling for a federal judge to halt the Bureau of Land Management from removing sage grouse habitat and other native vegetation from eastern Nevada — NPR

July 05, 2013 — Study: Bank seepage a big loss for Lake Powell — Salt Lake Tribune

June 26, 2013 — L.A., Owens Valley settle dispute over dust control — LA Times

June 26, 2013 — California Cities to Reduce Water Imports From the Colorado River and Bay-Delta — newswatch.nationalgeographic.com

June 19, 2013 — Will We Drink the Snake Valley Dry? — Residents of Baker, Nevada, say water pipeline plans threaten their small-town way of life — Vegas.com

June 19, 2013 — Herbert not budging on Snake Valley deal — Salt Lake Tribune

June 18, 2013 — Wharton: Selfish reasons to oppose Nevada water deal — Salt Lake Tribune

June 18, 2013 — Abby Johnson: Pumping plan would harm both eastern and Southern Nevada . . . The SNWA proposes building a pipeline to pump the underground water from the desert valleys surrounding Great Basin National Park and several valleys to its south to slake the thirst for unsustainable growth in Clark County. At what cost? Fifteen-and-a-half billion dollars. That’s 62 billion America the Beautiful quarters. Does this “water grab” make sense, as in dollars and cents? — Nevada AppealPrint PDF

June 14, 2013 — Spring Valley a flashpoint in water fight for Utah and the West — Courts Rural survival, tribal culture depend on the groundwater Las Vegas covets, lawyers argue — Salt Lake Tribune

June 14, 2013 — Utah interests fighting 'unbridled gall' of Nevada water project Everyone agrees that the water table under Spring Valley and three other rural Nevada valleys would drop after groundwater starts getting pumped for export to Las Vegas. But experts examining the same data have drawn much different conclusions about this project's environmental, cultural and economic consequences — Salt Lake Tribune

May 13, 2013 — U.S., Mexico: The Decline of the Colorado River — Stratfor.com

May 08, 2013 — Suffocating The Desert: L.A.'s Need for Water Hurts Others —kcet.org

May 07, 2014 — Nevada: Native Americans walk to protest water theft scheme On Saturday, May 4, 2013 approximately 70 Native Americans representing the Confederated 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 begin a Walk/Run from Wells, Nevada towards Caliente, Nevada, a distance of approximately 272 miles — Bsnorell.blogspot.com

May 07, 2013 — Summit to explore Utah's water fate Utah's water bosses are gearing up for a series of public meetings around the state followed by a "water summit" that is hoped to yield a new vision for how one of the nation's driest, yet fastest growing states will develop, use and pay for water — Salt Lake Tribune

Dean Baker May 05, 2013 — Water standoff between Nevada, Utah puts rancher in tough position — In Snake Valley, the sun comes up in Utah and sets in Nevada. The man in the middle has worked both sides of the line for more than 50 years. Dean Baker moved to the valley 300 miles northeast of Las Vegas in 1959 to help run a ranch his father took on there a few years earlier — Las Review Journal

April 17, 2013 — Colorado Declared Most Endangered River in the U.S. — Long Term Solutions, Not a Bank-breaking Pipeline Are Needed to Supply Las Vegas Water — GBWN News Release

April 06, 2013 — The dry life — Utah may have temporarily foiled the attempt by Las Vegas to make off with 21 billion gallons or so of Snake Valley water. But even larger and more pressing water issues are facing the state and the region, and they won't be addressed by a simple flourish — or lack thereof — of the governor’s pen — Salt Lake Tribune

April 05, 2013 — In our opinion: Water war — Gov. Gary Herbert made a lot of friends in Utah when he decided not to sign a water agreement this week with Nevada. The agreement concerned water beneath the Snake Valley, which straddles both states. Officials from both sides had negotiated the pact, which would have allowed Nevada to begin pumping roughly half the available water beneath the valley to supply a growing Las Vegas population. — Deseret News editorial

April 04, 2013 — McEntee: Herbert's 'my hero’ ÿ Snake Valley rancher says it all — Salt Lake Tribune

March 31, 2013 — Peg McEntee: Why we can't let Utah's Snake Valley dry up — Salt Lake Tribune

March 28, 2013 — Water a life-and-death issue for Snake Valley —The Snake Valley doesn't have a lot of trees. Looking across this expanse bordered by some of Nevada's highest mountains, it's not hard to see where the earth gives up its groundwater. Look for trees and willows — Salt Lake Tribune

March 27, 2013 — My view: Say no (Utah Governor) to Water Pipeline agreement — Salt Lake Tribune [Brian Moench is the president of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment and a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists] [More Coverage]

March 26, 2013 — Utahns protest Snake Valley water pact with Nevada — Salt Lake Tribune

March 21, 2013 — Governor discusses water battle in Snake Valley — Salt Lake Tribune

February 26,2013 — Woman Speaks Out on Ranching Empire — SPRING VALLEY, Nev. -- The Southern Nevada Water Authority has spent huge sums of public money to gobble up a string of rural ranches because of the water underneath them. SNWA claims the ranches are operating in the black, but a whistleblower has come forward to tell a much different story — 8newsnow.com

January 30, 2013 — George Knapp: Sen. Roberson versus the water monster — Las Vegas City Life

January 25, 2013 — Las Vegas Accused of Engineering Massive Water Grab: Is This the Future of the West?

January 24, 2013 — Big water projects should make us queasy — Across maps of the arid West, expensive water pipelines are being plotted to meet the region's profound need for water. Among those under serious consideration are a 263-mile pipeline to bring eastern Nevada water to Las Vegas, southwestern Utah's 139-mile Lake Powell pipeline, and the 500-mile Flaming Gorge pipeline from Wyoming to Colorado. Each would cost billions of dollars — Salt Lake Tribune

January 07, 2013 — Jack Nicholson, a murder and water rights — Las Vegas Sun

Janaury 02, 2013 — Pipeline pipe dream . . . That is why last week's decision by the Bureau of Land Management to allow construction of a mammoth pipeline that would draw billions of gallons of water from the dry basins of eastern Nevada and pipe it 263 miles south to Las Vegas is just what one of the plan’s environmentalist activists called it: “Pure folly.”



Go To Water Grab News Archives — 2012
Archives News Home Page
GBWN Home Page