Judge: Ruling on Vegas pipeline plan to take time Gallup Independent June 17, 2013 ELY, Nev. (AP) — A state judge in Nevada says it will be months before he issues a ruling in a challenge over a $15 billion pipeline project to carry billions of gallons of water to Las Vegas from rural counties along the Nevada-Utah line. Senior District Judge Robert Estes made the comment as a two-day hearing that ended Friday in Ely on the appeal of water rights granted to the Southern Nevada Water Authority by Nevada’s state engineer, Jason King. “Don’t expect a ruling next week,” Estes said, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. “I’m not going to get started until August. I have several trials set. However long this takes, I hope you understand I won’t be dawdling.” No matter how Estes rules, the dispute is expected to wind up before the Nevada Supreme Court as have previous similar challenges to the plan. At issue is King’s 2012 order granting the water authority permission to pump up to 84,000 acre-feet of groundwater a year from four rural valleys in Lincoln and White Pine counties — enough water for over 160,000 homes. The water authority seeks to build the 263-mile pipeline to reduce Las Vegas’ dependence on the drought-prone Colorado River. The water authority serves the desert gambling metropolis that is home to some 2 million people and attracts 40 million visitors annually. Both sides agree the water table under the four rural valleys would drop after groundwater pumping begins for export to Las Vegas. But experts examining the same data have drawn much different conclusions about the project’s environmental, cultural and economic impacts, The Tribune reported. During the hearing, opponents portrayed the water authority’s project as a “water grab” that pits Las Vegas’ insatiable drive to grow against rural communities’ desire to survive. They argued the four rural valleys are too dry to sustain much pumping without devastating residents and the environment, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. “It’s a hugely expensive and threatening project,” said attorney Simeon Herskovits, who represented over 350 Nevada and Utah plaintiffs at the hearing. “If this project goes forward, this spells real trouble for all of rural Nevada.” Plaintiffs include ranchers, farmers, environmentalists, rural local governments, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Nation. Water authority attorneys insisted there’s no evidence the pipeline project would dry up water sources for ranchers, kill native plants, displace wildlife and adversely affect two American Indian tribes. King’s decision “struck the proper balance between water development and protecting the environment,” water authority attorney Paul Taggart said, according to the Review-Journal. Estes gave no hint on how he might rule in the case. At the end of Friday’s hearing, he simply thanked lawyers for their professionalism and urged them to be patient.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:11:25 +0000
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