Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
important concept. This part of the West is the way it is because the
water is where it is. When you start moving the water around, then
something has to change.”
Anderson says a major difference between Utah and Nevada
is that decades ago Nevada allowed people to take the water, even
at the expense of the desert drying up. Utah, on the other hand,
emphasized that water must be available if the environment is to
fl ourish. “So there is a philosophical difference between the two
states in the way the water is administered,” Anderson says.
Adds Mulroy, “We have fi led applications for unused, untapped
perennial yield groundwater that will afford us the opportunity—with
continued conservation—to keep this city alive in the event we lose
Lake Mead [which provides about 90 percent of Las Vegas' water].”
Whether Las Vegas wins the battle with the “north” for the water
depends on many variables. The U.S. Supreme Court likely will end
up considering this case, because it's an interstate issue—the Snake
Valley lies partly in Nevada and partly in Utah. Adding to the fray,
Snake Valley water generally is replenished in Nevada's mountains,
but the water fl ows north into Utah.
In the meantime, Mulroy and her agency continue to “diversify”
the origins of their water.
For more information from various parties involved in Las
Vegas' pursuit of water, check out a few of these sources.
Great Basin Water Network: http://greatbasinwaternetwork
.org
Millard County Chronicle Progress: http://millardccp.com/
Protect Snake Valley: http://protectsnakevalley.com
Southern Nevada Water Authority: http://www.snwa.com
LAWS CREATE STRANGE BEDFELLOWS
The use-it-or-lose-it approach to water rights in the West makes for
unusual business partners. The Southern Nevada Water Authority,
for example, has gone into the cattle-ranching business. But not
because the water agency is strapped for cash, looking to diversify
its holdings, or has a burning desire to get back to the land. It's in
part Western water law's dictum of “use it or lose it.” The district
