By Cy Ryan

Thu, Feb 7, 2008 (2 a.m.)

Carson City — The Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge is 5,380 acres of marshes, open water, native grass meadows and cultivated croplands that draw about 30,000 visitors annually.

Also an important habitat for birds, the refuge, about 90 miles north of Las Vegas, lies west of the Delamar and Dry Lake valleys, from which the Southern Nevada Water Authority wants to pump water.

To keep the refuge protected, the authority and bureaus of the U.S. Interior Department have reached an agreement to address concerns about how lowering the water table would affect the refuge, a stopping point for waterfowl and other migratory birds as they travel south in fall and north in early spring.

Kay Brothers, deputy general manager of energy and operations for the water authority, outlined the agreement Monday at the opening of two weeks of hearings by the authority on its plan to siphon 39,750 acre-feet from Delamar, Dry Lake and Cave Lake valleys in eastern Nevada. (One acre-foot equals the volume of water necessary to cover an acre with 1 foot of water.)

Brothers told State Engineer Tracy Taylor an early warning system will be established to protect the wildlife refuge’s special species and environment.

Nine wells will be drilled to monitor the water tables. If any adverse effect is discovered, water withdrawals would be reduced or shut off. Annual reports on the test wells will be given to Taylor’s office.

In exchange for the agreement, the Interior Department and its bureaus, including the Fish and Wildlife Service, will drop a protest to the drawdown of the water.

The refuge is a 10-mile-wide wetland fed by two springs. “All of the wildlife live here because of the water,” said refuge manager Merry Maxwell.

There are 260 species of birds, as well as mule deer, mountain lions, bobcats, foxes, badgers and frogs. Fishing, hunting and camping are allowed in the refuge, which has trails for hiking, jogging and biking.

Paul Taggart, lead attorney for the water authority, said unused water from the three valleys, in Lincoln County, can be siphoned for Las Vegas, where there is a “highest and best use.”

Simeon Herskovits, attorney for Advocates for Community and Environments, will address the hearing on behalf of a group of ranches, governments and others protesting the drawdown.

Brothers said if the drought continues in Southern Nevada, there could be a shortage of 13,000 acre-feet as soon as 2009 for the Las Vegas area. That could grow to 20,000 acre-feet by 2012.

The authority, Brothers said, has acquired rights to 11,000 acre-feet from the Muddy and Virgin rivers, and may buy or lease more water rights from the two sources.

“It is quite frightening,” she said. “We must line up resources.”

• • •

The public expects a high level of conduct from correctional officers in the Nevada state prison system.

And Senior Correctional Officer Cynthia Smith didn’t live up to that standard when she hid a bag of cocaine in a staff restroom at the High Desert State Prison in Clark County, a state hearing officer said.

In a 25-page decision, administrative hearing officer Daniel S. Hussey upheld the dismissal of Smith, who had worked for the prison system since 1996.

Senior Correctional Officer Martin Dooley found a pink bag containing a white powdery substance, later determined to be cocaine, in the staff restroom in August.

Smith had left the prison but returned and started “frantically” searching the restroom, telling prison staff she was looking for her glasses, Hussey said.

When asked whether she would take a drug test, Smith refused.

Hussey said the prison “has a valid interest in purging itself” if it catches a staffer engaging in disreputable practices.