As hearings begin, Water Authority claims Las Vegas pipeline would benefit rural Nevada

By Cy Ryan

Monday, Sept. 26, 2011 | 2:47 p.m.

Pumping water from Eastern Nevada to Las Vegas will enrich, not destroy, the small rural communities where the water is located, an attorney for the Southern Nevada Water Authority said as hearings got under way on the proposed pipeline project.

Opening arguments were presented today on the Water Authority's application for 125,976 acre feet of water from four valleys in rural Nevada for Southern Nevada.

Six weeks have been set aside for the hearings and Hearing Officer Susan Joseph-Taylor has set Oct. 7 for the public to testify. The hearings are being shown via video conference to Las Vegas and Ely.

Paul Taggart, a lawyer for the authority, said in his opening statement that Southern Nevada needs the millions of gallons of water for its 2 million residents and 400,000 tourists. The area gets 90 percent of its water from the Colorado River and it needs protection against a drought.

Pumping the rural water to Las Vegas "will not destroy these entities" in rural Nevada but will benefit them with extra tax revenue.

But opposing lawyers argued that siphoning water out of Eastern Nevada will thwart development and damage existing water rights. Simeon Herskovits, representing the Great Basin Water Network, said the loss of this water would cause a recession in the area by halting agricultural expansion and development of alternate energy projects, tourism and recreation.

Herskovits added that the project would harm plants and wildlife, drying up wet lands and causing dust storms. In addition, the Water Authority hasn't demonstrated it has the ability to finance the project and its estimate of the available water is "grossly exaggerated."

Taggart countered that the authority has the ability to sell bonds to finance the project, which could cost as much as $15 billion.

Critics who complain the 263-mile pipeline would destroy plant life and harm wildlife don't consider that the authority would have to obey the standards set by the federal Department of Interior, Taggart said.

Joseph-Taylor has set aside three weeks for the authority to present its case, followed by a two-week recess and then three weeks for the opponents to present their case.

Also giving statements on the opening day were Paul Hejmanowski representing the Cleveland-Rogers Ranch owned by the Mormon Church and Paul Echohawk representing the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation.

Hejmanowski said the Water Authority has applied for 92,000 acre feet in Spring Valley but the estimate of the state engineer's office is there is only 80,000 feet in the valley. He said the 12 wells being proposed by the authority would interfere with the water rights of the ranch.

Echohawk said the loss of the water "will change the nature of the reservation."