Comments by deaconj - Las Vegas Sun

Comments by user: deaconj

Posted on: ‘Owens Valley is the model of what to expect’

Emily Green and the Las Vegas Sun are to be congratulated for a wonderfully thoughtful, thorough examination of the history of the Las Vegas water project. The series has done a wonderful job of informing the public!

With this information, it is impossible for any informed citizen to believe the water project can be developed without doing serious damage to the livelihood of our neighbors in rural eastern, central and southern Nevada, and the native vegetation in the region. Also evident is the clear scientific consensus that the proposed project added to existing water withdrawals will result in groundwater mining -- illegal under Nevada law. In other words the best science tells us the project is not sustainable.

One major issue not covered in the series is the fact that when the springs quit flowing and the wetlands dry up, a tremendous diversity of plants and animals dependent on those wetlands will also disappear. Included in that diversity are 20 presently listed endangered species, and more than 150 endemic wetland or spring dependent species. Federal law makes it illegal for government agencies to knowingly diminish chances for survival of endangered species.

How can we continue to insist it is good public policy to promote growth of Las Vegas by using our economic power to destroy the livelihood of our rural neighbors, invest in a multibillion dollar usustainable project, and exercise our stewardship responsibilities to the earth by stimulating a wave of extinction unparalleled in human history? And, can you just imagine how much it will cost to attempt to continue promoting the illusion that the project does not violate state and federal law???

Jim

(Suggest removal) 6/29/08 at 3:43 p.m.