Group: Groundwater pumping puts desert wildlife refuge at risk

Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2005 | 10:58 a.m.

The Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex is one of the six most threatened wildlife refuges in the country because of groundwater pumping to sustain Las Vegas, a national conservation group said today.

Evan Hirsche, president of the National Wildlife Refuge Association, which is an advocacy group for the refuges located throughout all 50 states, said many of the wildlife refuges are threatened by expanding urban populations. That is especially true in Las Vegas, the fastest growing metropolitan area in the country.

"External threats to refuges are coming home to roost," Hirsche said. "The Desert National Wildlife Refuge jumped to the top of the list because of the proposal from the Southern Nevada Water Authority to pump groundwater from the regional aquifer.

"This water is thousands of years in the making. Annual rainfall is somewhere in the neighborhood of 4.5 inches. We're talking about taking more water out than is going in."

The desert refuge complex was one of six refuges listed as threatened by the group in a report that came out today. The complex consists of four refuges in Southern Nevada, including the 1.5 million-acre Desert National Wildlife Refuge, which is the largest of the lower 48 states' wildlife refuges.

The complex also includes the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge; Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge; and Ash Valley National Wildlife Refuge, which contains 24 plants and animals found nowhere else in the world.

The complex contains 17 threatened and endangered species, including the desert tortoise, and small fish including the Moapa dace and pupfish. It is also home to bighorn sheep.

"Pupfish and desert bighorn sheep don't have the option of going to the fountain at the Bellagio for their needs," Hirsche said.

In January, Nevada State Engineer Hugh Ricci approved the water authority's plans for taking about 8,900 acre-feet of water annually from the Three Lakes and Tikiboo valleys in northwest Clark County and southwest Lincoln County.

The approval was less than the 17,000 acre-feet the Southern Nevada Water Authority had requested, but agency officials said approval was a boost for their program of developing deep groundwater resources statewide.

The approval could provide enough water for about 67,000 people in the region.

John Hiatt, a Las Vegas conservationist with the Red Rock Audubon Society, shares the national group's concerns about the impacts.

"Groundwater pumping is a significant issue, especially when we're talking about large amounts of water for municipal use," Hiatt said. "There certainly are springs on the refuge which could be affected.

"It takes so long for impacts to happen," Hiatt said, "years or decades. Then when they do, it's irreversible."

Kay Brothers, water authority deputy general manager, said her agency is monitoring springs throughout the region and working with federal agencies including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure that natural resources aren't affected.

She said hydrologic modeling by both the water authority and the agencies show no impact on important springs for at least 100 years. If impacts are detected, the agency will stop taking water.

Brothers said most of the wells planned by the water authority that were originally planned to go on the wildlife refuges have now been moved off.