LOOKING IN ON: CARSON CITY $1 million wish: A study to take water inventory, avoid friction

Monday, Aug. 27, 2007 | 10 p.m.

CARSON CITY -- Concerned about the demands of Nevada's growing population, a state agency intends to ask for $1 million from the next Legislature for a study of available underground water and other water sources.

Gov. Jim Gibbons asked the 2007 Legislature for $2 million for the Desert Research Institute and the state engineer's office to conduct a water inventory to “reduce potential future conflicts.”

The Legislature, however, rejected the request.

Kay Scherer, deputy director of the state Conservation and Natural Resources Department, said her agency would recommend $1 million in the next budget for the study.

Joe Sicking, a member of the state Conservation Commission from Humboldt County, suggested that decisions on all applications to gain additional water should be postponed until that study is completed.

Southern Nevada, Sicking said, “is trying to suck up all the water” from the rural counties.

Sicking's comments lay out the battle lines likely to be seen at a state engineer's hearing today on the Southern Nevada Water Authority's bid to draw water from rural Nevada to Las Vegas.

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Cave Rock is a large rock formation on the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe in Nevada that is essentially considered a church by the Washoe Indian tribe, which calls it the “most religious feature within the Washoe religion.”

It also offers some of the best rock climbing in the United States, luring some of the world's best climbers.

The Washoe tribe, which has lived in the Tahoe Basin for 1,500 years, wants the rock climbing and other activities banned at Cave Rock.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday gave the tribe at least part of what it wanted, upholding a U.S. Forest Service decision to bar rock climbing, but allowing other activities such as fishing, hiking and picnics to continue.

The court struck down the appeal of the Access Fund, a rock climbers group that said the Forest Service's decision elevated religious arguments over other policy issues governing public access to the rock formation.

The Forest Service found that Cave Rock was a “cultural, historical and archaeological monument” recommended for placement on the National Register of Historic Places. That decision, the court ruled, does not improperly promote the religion of the Washoe tribe, which viewed the rock climbing as a desecration of its faith.

Without the Forest Service's approval, the rock climbers had inserted bolts into the side of Cave Rock, added a masonry floor and arranged rocks to protect climbers after one was injured in a fall.

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