Water Grab Hearings Start on Monday in Carson City

Guest blog by Abby Johnson of the Great Basin Water Network

Water Grab Hearings Start on Monday in Carson City

On Monday, Nevada's state water engineer, Jason King, will begin a six week hearing to decide whether Southern Nevada Water Authority should be given permission to pump and export "unappropriated" water from Spring Valley, and Cave, Dry Lake, and Delamar Valleys in White Pine and Lincoln Counties. These hearings are a do-over, mandated by the Nevada Supreme Court based on lawsuits brought by Great Basin Water Network www.greatbasinwater.net and other protestants to question the decisions and process from previous rulings.

The BLM's environmental report www.blm.gov/5w5c confirms what we already knew:  Building a 306 mile, 96" diameter pipe to drain water from the high deserts in eastern Nevada will devastate and decimate the streams, springs, wildlife, habitat, air quality, agriculture, local economies, tourism, communities and.....Great Basin National Park, Nevada's only one. BLM may approve or deny the pipeline right of way; the State Engineer decides if and how much water to allow SNWA to pump from beneath Nevada's fragile deserts.

There are TWO actions in the near future that will help support Great Basin Water Network and the people who are opposed to the Water Grab. Please take action to make sure your voice is heard.

1.  Mail or email your written comments on the BLM's Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the proposed pumping project by October 11, 201. Please look at our sample email to the BLM here. Please add your own comments. Your views on the DEIS, the problems you see with it, and with the SNWA proposal are essential for the BLM to hear. You'll find many issues you may wish to raise about the DEIS deficiencies in our EIS guide available here. Or find our sample letter suitable for US mail here. Please take a moment right now to be sure the BLM hears from you!

2. Public comment before the State Engineer will be held on Friday, October 7, 2011 starting at 8 a.m. and will be video cast from several locations.  The locations for public comment are the Nevada Legislative Building in Carson City, Room 1214; the Grant Sawyer State Office Building in Las Vegas, Room 4412; and the Great Basin College in Ely, Room 112. You will have 3 minutes to speak regarding SNWA's applications to pump 41 billion gallons of water per year.  If you cannot comment on October 7, you can submit written comments via U.S. Mail (No e-mails are accepted) anytime until the cutoff at 5PM on Friday, December 2, 2011 to the following address: 

Susan Joseph-Taylor, Chief Hearing Officer, Nevada Division of Water Resources, 901 South Stewart Street, Suite 2002, Carson City, Nevada 89701.

Check out Great Basin Water Network's website: greatbasinwater.net for links to the BLM EIS and State Engineer hearing process.

• Your comments to the BLM on the GWD EIS needed by Oct 11.
• NV State Engineer rehearing starts Sept. 26; online viewing available
• Nevada State Engineer rehearing public comment Oct 7; written comments accepted until 5 PM on Dec 2, 2011 (no emails).

The Great Basin Water Network's win at the Nevada Supreme Court took away all of the SNWA's previously awarded water rights.  The Nevada State Engineer's rehearing starts on Monday, September 26, 2011 on the Southern Nevada Water Authority's groundwater applications to pump 127,000 acre-feet per year of groundwater from Spring, Cave, Dry Lake, and Delamar Valleys.  The hearing will start at 9 AM in Carson City at the Nevada State Legislature Building, 401 South Carson Street, Room 1214. You can view the hearing online by clicking here on hearing days.

SNWA is scheduled to take 3 weeks for its case followed by a 2 week break. The hearing will reconvene with the protestants' cases (beginning with the Great Basin Water Network representing hundreds of protestants) on Monday, October 31 continuing through Friday November 4, Monday Nov 7 continuing through Thursday Nov 10, and Monday Nov 14 continuing through Friday Nov 18.