Jan. 31, 2010

Pipeline not the sole option Authority exploring other means as predictions for Lake Mead remain grim

[Las Vegas Sun, Excerpt] The Nevada Supreme Court’s ruling last week that upheaved multibillion-dollar plans to tap water from rural Nevada for the Las Vegas Valley has thrown into confusion the fate of a project that was once hailed as essential to the future of Las Vegas.

The ruling jeopardizes two decades of planning to draw water from the Great Basin to sate local needs, by concluding that the applications for water rights coveted by the Southern Nevada Water Authority had long ago expired.

This doesn’t spell the death of the pipeline project. The issue now returns to District Court. And for its part, the Water Authority reacted quickly to the court’s decision by immediately refiling its applications for water rights in eastern Nevada. The agency hopes to eventually have permission to draw water south to Las Vegas via a 300-mile pipeline.

Meanwhile, the door is open for hundreds of pipeline opponents who had been excluded from the process to finally protest the plan, a prospect that seems likely to throw more obstacles in its way.

And it’s possible that this time, the Water Authority won’t get the water. ...
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See the full Las Vegas Sun article by Stephanie Tavares below:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/jan/31/pipeline-not-sole-option/