Appointment of Bunker angers water-transfer foes

Monday, July 31, 2006 | 7:23 a.m.

Gov. Kenny Guinn has appointed a strong advocate of the contentious plan to pump water from rural Nevada to Las Vegas to a team negotiating related water issues with Utah.

The appointment upset opponents of the Southern Nevada Water Authority's plans to pump water to Las Vegas from rural counties. Those opponents argue that Richard Bunker will not be impartial when evaluating water needs for the region.

Bunker is a former Clark County manager and Las Vegas city manager, former president of the Nevada Resort Association, former chairman of the state Gaming Control Board and current chairman of the Colorado River Commission. He is now one of three officials representing Nevada in talks with Utah to determine how much water Nevada should take from the Snake Valley, which is split between the two states.

The two states have to agree on how much water to give to each side. That calculation means looking at current and future demand. The Water Authority hopes to take 27,000 acre-feet annually from the Snake Valley.

Opponents fear that Bunker is so committed to sending more water south that he will not consider conservation or alternative sources, much less their belief that urban growth should be capped before rural water is pumped south.

Dean Baker, a Snake Valley rancher, said Friday, "It's just like putting the Water Authority's eyes and ears on the negotiating team."

Bob Fulkerson, executive director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, said Bunker was a poor choice for the negotiations with Utah: "He is the biggest cheerleader for this project outside of Pat Mulroy," who is general manager of the Water Authority.

"His commitment to science and his impartial judgment are suspect because he wants this project to go forward as soon as possible. Will he be a reasonable negotiator? No, he won't."

Bunker served on an advisory committee last year that endorsed the Water Authority's plans and argued that the Las Vegas agency had few other options. He said Friday he is not trying to push the Water Authority's agenda.

"Nobody knows if there is any water or not," said Bunker, who advocates drilling test wells to determine the amount of water in the Snake Valley. "The availability of water up there is critical. If there is no water up there, then we'll have to find water somewhere else.

"I understand the emotion, but at some point in time you have to set the emotion aside and deal with facts and information. That's all we're trying to do."

Many Snake Valley residents oppose the drilling of test wells, believing they are the first step toward losing much of their water.

The Water Authority, wholesaler for Las Vegas and its suburbs, now uses about 300,000 acre-feet of water annually from the Colorado River to satisfy almost all needs. Officials with the authority hope to bring rural ground water to the urban system by 2015.

They argue that the river can be unreliable as a single source and that demand will grow. Also, the agency is already close to taking out its maximum allotment from the river.

Steve Robinson, Guinn's deputy chief of staff, said Bunker was appointed to the negotiating group - which also includes the director of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and a deputy in the state engineer's office - for his experience, not to be an advocate for the Water Authority.

Bunker, Robinson noted, has a family ranch in rural southern Utah.

Robinson said any agreement between the two states would have to be approved by the governor.

"We think that in negotiations with Utah, Richard can be nothing but an asset," Robinson said.

He also noted that the negotiators won't have the final word. "Nobody on that team will be making a decision. The decision will be made by the governor."

Gary Perea, a White Pine County commissioner and Snake Valley resident who opposes the Water Authority's plans, said Guinn could have appointed a neighbor.

"There's not any representation from White Pine County," Perea said.