Down the drain

BY PAUL BROWN

You may not be able to walk on water, but thanks to the drought, you can walk on large parts of what used to be Lake Mead.

Even with the drought, Las Vegas has adequate water supplies for our existing residents. However, if we accept unlimited growth, then we will have a water shortage.

Existing levels of growth already threaten our quality of life with overcrowded roads, dirty air and an enormous stress on our water supply.

But if you listen to the growth-at-any-cost folks, there's nothing to worry about. They want to build water pipelines from rural Nevada to Las Vegas and that will allow us to grow to 3.5 million people.

Our congressional delegation recently introduced a bill that grants rights of way for the pipelines. But, importing water from rural counties is an extremely risky proposal. And it's costly.

It will cost billions of dollars to drill wells, construct the hundreds of miles of pipeline, and do the necessary hydrological and environmental studies to pull off this water importation scheme.

Do you really think only new residents will pay the billions of dollars needed to build these pipelines?

There are other costs too. The environmental impact to Eastern Nevada could be disastrous. Look what happened to Owens Valley when the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, or LADWP, siphoned off its water.

Owens Valley turned into a toxic dust bowl creating serious air quality problems. Now, Los Angeles' residents have to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to remediate the environmental problems caused by LADWP's water importation project. This scenario could repeat itself in Nevada, if we allow these pipelines to go through.

If built, the Nevada pipelines will obtain ground water supplies from rural areas of our state, which are in the same extreme drought as Southern Nevada. People living in our rural areas will be affected.

Indian Springs residents report declining water levels in their wells, even without the additional pumping proposed by Southern Nevada Water Authority.

Water levels in Devils Hole are also declining, threatening the survival of its pupfish.

Do we want to draw water from the Overton Wildlife Management Area and Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge? What about fishing holes and hunting areas? Will sportsmen still have places to go or will they fall victim to Las Vegas' growth too?

Are these pipelines really needed? Other more environmentally sound and cost-effective water supply options are available to SNWA. They can start with improving their water conservation program. Las Vegas has extremely high-water consumption per capita compared to dozens of other Western cities. We must do better.

SNWA can also use our nearby Colorado River waters more efficiently. An interstate water market could provide Las Vegas with more water at a cheaper cost than building pipelines into rural Nevada.

The risks and costs of building the water pipelines are too high. Besides, it would be foolish to import rural water if it means our quality of life goes down the drain.

PAUL BROWN IS THE SOUTHERN NEVADA DIRECTOR OF THE PROGRESSIVE LEADERSHIP ALLIANCE OF NEVADA.