This week Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow was the keynote speaker at a University of Utah conference on water, conflict and human rights.
She notes that, “The issue there is a proposal by the Southern Nevada Water Authority to build a pipeline to take 65 billion gallons (250 billion litres) a year out of an aquifer called the Great Basin that lies under Utah and Nevada and ship it to Las Vegas. A network of ranchers, environmentalists, First Nations, and others have formed the Great Basin Water Network and have held the project off in the courts for quite a while but they are up against a formidable alliance of pro-development interests.”
The Associated Press reported on February 17, “Opponents of a proposed multibillion-dollar water pipeline from northeastern Nevada and Utah to Las Vegas have been mounting a procedural challenge to a Nevada Supreme Court order that sent the case to a state official for review. …The network wants a White Pine County District Court judge to agree to hear their complaints before Nevada State Engineer Jason King considers water-rights applications for the region, she said Friday (February 11).”
The article continues, “Water rights are crucial to the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s proposal to build a 285-mile pipeline to the Las Vegas area from as far away as Snake Valley, which straddles the Nevada-Utah line. Opponents contend the groundwater supplies are inadequate to support the plan to export up to 50,000 acre-feet of water.”
The media release on the conference is at http://media-newswire.com/release_1142780.html. The Associated Press news report is at http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50146402-76/nevada-vegas-court-pipeline.html.csp.
