Mar. 04, 2010

Water Grab Slapdown [George Knapp, Las Vegas Citylife]

...

The reaction from the water authority to the legislative bitch slap dished out in Carson City this week is downright hilarious. The authority put on a full-court press, had a huge team of lobbyists, twisted arms, issued threats, called in the casino lobbyists, unions and developers, all in an effort to ram through an ill-conceived bill to essentially side-step a recent decision by the Nevada Supreme Court about water rights. The water crew pulled out every stop, even their patented boogeyman tactic (the sky will fall and all life on Earth will end if this bill isn't passed -- that was the essence of a late-inning letter handed out to all lawmakers).

And after all of that effort, after the authority got its ass kicked by a coalition of cowboys, Indians, enviros and rural officials, the water agency had the gall to issue a letter in which it acknowledged it would have been a bad idea to "hastily pass legislation during the waning hours," which was precisely what it tried so hard to do for the entire special session. From what I've been told, lawmakers weren't going to vote for this thing and resented being hammered about it over and over when their overwhelming priority during the session was the budget deficit. I think -- and hope -- the heavy-handed approach by the authority left a bitter taste in the mouths of legislators. Let's all hope they remember it when they reconvene in 2011.

http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2010/03/04/opinion/knappster/iq_34608259.txt