Saturday, July 8, 2006 | 7:40 a.m.
Nevada and Utah are quietly in talks to divide water resources in a shared valley 250 miles north of Las Vegas, and the negotiations could lead to an agreement before year's end - a prospect that makes some in the affected valley unhappy.
The talks are an outgrowth of the Southern Nevada Water Authority's plans to bring water from rural White Pine County to Las Vegas. The $2 billion plan is subject to federal environmental approval for wells and pipelines and must receive state approval for wells taking Nevada ground water. While dozens of wells are slated for White Pine County, a 2004 federal law gives Utah a say in developing wells in one long, narrow valley along the Utah-Nevada state line: Snake Valley.
Snake Valley is also the epicenter of resistance to the ground water pumping plan. Ranchers, farmers and environmentalists have forged an alliance to oppose the Water Authority's plan. Some opponents say the talks should wait until research is completed that could help determine how much ground water is in Snake Valley.
The talks are "going faster than we expected," said Ken Hill, who lives in Utah's windswept West Desert region. Hill, a teacher's aide, is concerned that lifestyles throughout his region could be disrupted by the Water Authority's plans:
"We were told by the (Utah) governor and by the water-rights people that there was no deadline on the agreement and they had no interest in rushing it. Now we find out there is an interest in rushing it."
A Utah Division of Water Rights work schedule indicates that an agreement could be complete by Sept. 1. Officials from both Utah and Nevada said an agreement on how much water both states could take from the valley could be signed and in place before the end of the year.
The Water Authority plans to take about 27,000 acre-feet from the Snake Valley. It also hopes to take more than 91,000 acre-feet from the neighboring Spring Valley to the west, which is completely within Nevada.
The Las Vegas agency says it needs the water to augment and diversify its water-resources portfolio, which for now is almost completely dependent on the 300,000 acre-feet annually that it takes from the Colorado River. An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons.
The Colorado River allotment now supplies almost all of the water needs for the Las Vegas Valley.
Hill and other opponents said they are concerned that the negotiations between the two states involve Water Authority officials, and that those objecting to the authority's plans have been left out of the talks. Hill said opponents should have pushed harder to be included in the talks.
"I was going to push for a seat at the table, but I was told through back channels that they (Utah negotiators) had something positive going on and didn't want a lot of publicity on it," he said. "That stopped me from doing anything on it for a while."
Allen Biaggi, director of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and lead negotiator for Nevada in the talks, said discussions with Utah began early this year.
Although Utah has posted a draft agreement - which includes "XXXs" in place of actual numbers on the division of Snake Valley water resources - Biaggi said he had neither seen nor could he comment on the draft. He said nothing had been finalized, however, and that public meetings would be held before the talks concluded.
Public participation, he said, "is imperative to this process."
"The goal is to come up with an agreement that will allow Nevada and Utah to work cooperatively for the wise use of water resources in both states now and in the future."
Biaggi said the Southern Nevada Water Authority is not directly participating in the negotiations, although he and staff members of the Nevada state engineer's office, which issues permits for wells and will have to approve the authority's Snake Valley plans, are keeping the authority informed on the progress of the talks.
J.C. Davis, a Water Authority spokesman, said while Biaggi and others are engaged in the talks, the Las Vegas agency has an interest in the work schedule:
"Would we like to move the discussions along and reach a conclusion as soon as possible? Absolutely. Do we have a hard-target deadline? Absolutely not."
The Lincoln County Land Act of 2004, federal legislation championed by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid requires an interstate agreement to be in place before water can flow through pipelines to Las Vegas. But Davis said the Water Authority still could request and receive permission from the Nevada state engineer to drill wells in Snake Valley, even without Utah's approval.
"It's just physically moving it that we could not do," he said. Nonetheless, "We just want to resolve the issues so that the states of Nevada and Utah can agree on how this resource can be shared and managed."
Davis said Utah is important to the Water Authority on several fronts. The Las Vegas agency is in talks with Utah representatives on other water-related issues, among them the future of the Colorado River. Next week, Water Authority General Manager Pat Mulroy is scheduled to speak about water conservation issues to a group of Utah legislators.
The top official from Utah in the negotiations is Mike Styler, executive director of the state's Natural Resources Department. Although the Utah Geological Survey, a state agency, warned in 2005 that the Water Authority's program could drop ground water tables by 100 feet or more in the region, Styler said his goal is to avoid effects on agriculture, grazing and wildlife.
The Snake Valley's western boundary is dominated by Mount Wheeler and Great Basin National Park, and the U.S. Geological Survey warned of negative effects that could come from the pumping.
Styler said a big part of the Utah effort is to identify how much water is actually being used by people and wildlife.
The concerns of Utah residents are foremost, he added: "Our governor met with them. He told them he would not allow their way of life to be destroyed. That's the mission he's given us. We want to keep their water rights whole."
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