DOE: Enough water available for Yucca

Tuesday, Nov. 16, 1999 | 11:28 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The U.S. Department of Energy made its point Monday that there's enough underground water available to develop and operate a high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

The state did not challenge the testimony of an expert hydrologist who said drawing 430 acre feet of ground water a year would not lower the water table at the site or hurt the surrounding water interests. An acre foot can provide enough water to meet the needs of a family of four for one year.

The hearings before State Engineer Michael Turnipseed are expected to end today or Wednesday. Turnipseed said he will leave the record open for additional comments for several weeks. His decision is not expected until next year.

The state is battling on several fronts to keep the dump out of Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. It is the only site being considered to store 77,000 tons of highly radioactive waste from the nation's nuclear power plants and defense uses.

The major testimony Monday came from William Dudley, a hydrology expert with the U.S. Geological Survey.

The Energy Department gained a temporary permit in 1991 to use the water through 2002. Now the DOE wants to make the use permit permanent. The DOE needs permanent water rights for the site before it can receive a repository license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Dudley said monitoring of the ground water in the area since 1991 shows slight change. There are a number of production and test wells. In some areas, there is a "small downward trend" in the water table, Dudley said. But in others, there is no change.

Dudley also said the pumping of the water has not hurt surrounding areas, including Devil's Hole, where endangered pupfish live. The water level, he said, "is quite stable."

It also would not harm the farming interests in the Amargosa Valley, Dudley said.

The underground water flow, he said, has been stronger than initially thought in 1991.

Deputy Attorney General Marta Adams did not cross-examine Dudley and did not provide evidence to the contrary. She said the state is stressing the public interest in the case.

"This clearly threatens to be detrimental to the public interest," Adams said.

Attorney Brent Kolvet, representing the DOE, said he would present additional evidence today to buttress the claim that there's enough water and it's not interfering with others.

Public testimony will be allowed at the end of Kolvet's case.

An appeal through the courts is expected, no matter which way Turnipseed rules. And that could take years.

Turnipseed held three days of hearings in Las Vegas last week before the site was switched to Carson City.

One of the state's main witnesses was James Flynn, a social scientist from Portland, Ore., who suggested that building the repository would have a "significant negative economic impact on the tourism industry." Adams said Turnipseed must consider the "public interest" in any ruling.

Robert Loux, director of the state Office on Nuclear Projects, said Monday that whether or not the water is available, the project will clearly harm Nevada.