Editorial: State must stop this water grab

Monday, June 16, 2003 | 9:03 a.m.

The people of Sandy Valley have our support in their battle to retain rights to the ground water underneath their community. Their argument is logical -- they need the water to sustain their future. There are about 2,300 people in the community straddling the California/Nevada border 30 miles southwest of Las Vegas. Most of them live in Nevada and each has a right to expect that the state will protect them from a private company seeking permission to siphon off their water. Vidler Water Co., a subsidiary of PICO Holdings in La Jolla, Calif., wants the water because it has customers for it in nearby Primm, a growing hotel-casino and outlet retail stop along Interstate 15.

Last year, Nevada State Engineer Hugh Ricci ruled on an application Vidler had filed in 1999, seeking 1,400 acre-feet of water from a Sandy Valley aquifer. He granted the company 415 acre-feet, a decision that upset both the community and Vidler. Residents, naturally, were outraged that this company was able to take any water from them. With one acre-foot representing enough water to serve a family of five for a year, the amount approved by Ricci was practically enough to sustain the whole town for a year. Vidler was equally outraged for the opposite reason. It argued that the amount approved by Ricci was too small based on 30-year-old federal geological studies, which concluded Sandy Valley could spare more than 2,000 acre-feet a year without harm.

The townspeople and Vidler appealed Ricci's decision. Because Ricci has not yet decided on the appeals, we view Vidler's latest action as the height of arrogance. It has applied for 2,000 more acre-feet from the same aquifer. One Sandy Valley resident characterized the company's action as harassment. Considering that the earlier appeals have not even been decided yet, we agree. We understand the concerns of Sandy Valley residents, who fear that their wells will dry up if Vidler is allowed to start pumping out their groundwater.

Sandy Valley residents love their rural lives and want to preserve their community for their children and grandchildren. As anyone who lives in the West knows, water is the only sure guarantee of a future. We hope the state engineer is more considerate of the people who live there than of an outside company looking to make a quick buck.