Today the Great Basin Water Network and Center for Biological Diversity released the following statements after Senator Cortez Masto introduced the latest version of the Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act, legislation that will increase demands on the water supply of Las Vegas. If passed, the bill sells off tens of thousands of acres of public lands for private real estate development, authorizes a new pipeline to facilitate sprawl south of the Las Vegas Valley, and imperils threatened species like the desert tortoise.
As Las Vegas grapples with an unprecedented heat wave this week, the legislation ignores the perils and uncertainty associated with climate change. Forecasts and modeling show Las Vegas’ temperatures rising and water supply dwindling in the coming decades. Any conservation gains perceived in the bill will be wiped out by the increases in traffic, air pollution, fossil fuel dependency and water use the bill warrants.
The legislation also fails to account for the inevitable increases in the cost of living for existing residents of Southern Nevada. The legislation will bring new demand for water, electricity, and essential social services that are increasingly expensive in Nevada.
“While the SNWA forecasts major declines at Lake Mead during the next 50 years, politicians only see as far as the next election cycle,” said Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network. “This bill facilitates new Colorado-River-reliant sprawl throughout Clark County, making more people dependent on an imperiled river system that will continue shrinking. Politicians are selling out existing residents and Lake Mead for the sake of real estate developer profits.”
The legislation is based on the framework of the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act, which has radically transformed the growth model in Las Vegas since the late 1990s. This legislation amends SNPLMA to expand the growth boundaries, infringing on public lands that belong to the people. Senator Cortez Masto has been working to pass this bill since 2017.
“We are disappointed that Sen. Cortez Masto and Clark County continue to pursue these short-sighted policies of growth at any cost,” said Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Selling off public lands for more Las Vegas sprawl will harm wildlife like our beloved desert tortoise, exacerbate climate change by increasing emissions, and compound critical concerns about the dwindling Colorado River. While we welcome the new conservation designations in this legislation, they do not offset the harms of creating a whole new city outside of the Las Vegas Valley. We have been pushing back against this bill for seven years and we remain steadfast in that opposition.”