Geography key in water

Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2005 | 7:44 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- It didn't take long for a partisan undercurrent to surface Thursday in the first meeting of the Legislature's interim committee on water resources.

But the partisans aren't split by party, they're split by geography.

Sen. Dean Rhoads, R-Tuscarora, chairman of the committee, told members that rural counties "were very nervous" about Southern Nevada's plans to pump water from Northern Nevada.

He said he intends to see that the committee, charged with studying water use in the state, "is very fair to rural Nevada."

But Sen. Warren Hardy, R-Henderson, said the issue of water was "of primary concern to everybody," and the committee must take "the global view."

The Southern Nevada Water Authority wants to pipe water from Lincoln, Nye and White Pine counties. That has run into opposition in some areas of the state and Utah.

Rhoads questioned what would happen if water from Northern Nevada was transferred to the Las Vegas area and then a new source of water was found in Southern Nevada.

"Sometimes the 20-foot gorilla down here (Las Vegas) might be a little greedy, and may not want to send the water back," he said.

Cy Ryan can be reached at (775) 687-5032 or at cy@lasvegassun.com.