Letter: Pipeline would speed deterioration of state

Friday, Sept. 15, 2006 | 7:32 a.m.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority's full-blown effort to pump thousands of gallons of ground water from northern rural Nevada into the Las Vegas Valley has kicked into high gear.

The impetus behind this project is to promote growth in Southern Nevada. Translation: more traffic, more overcrowded schools and irreversible damage to our environment. And that's not even the worst part about it. We may suffer from the negative impact of this pipeline for years after the water stops flowing.

If this pipeline is approved, Southern Nevadans will see Clark County bursting at its already frayed seams. It's inevitable that we will have more cars on our inadequate roads, more students in our understaffed classrooms and increasingly polluted air for us to breathe.

So, even if you have not been to rural Nevada, the effects of this pipeline will have a grave personal effect on you. What's bad for rural Nevada is bad for Las Vegas.

A.J. McClure, Las Vegas

Editor's note: The writer is the community field organizer for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, which opposes the Southern Nevada Water Authority's water pipeline proposal.