Suburbs and ranchettes sprouting across the Western landscape often add pollution to already burdened watersheds. Residential pollution comes from oil, pesticides, and fertilizers washed off driveways and yards. The University of Nevada Cooperative Extension in Reno has launched an effort to reduce nonpoint pollution of the Truckee River by educating residents about sources of pollution […]
Ernie Thompson
Posted inFebruary 21, 1994: Draining the budget to desalt the Colorado
They’re fed up, and aren’t going to take it anymore
At a tumultuous meeting in late January, the Nevada Association of Counties endorsed a movement to turn control of federal lands over to state government. Cheered on by 70 ranchers and miners, the group approved a letter to Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy. It proposed that Nevada assume control of its […]
Posted inJune 13, 1994: A doomed species?
Gold mines are sucking aquifers dry
ELKO, Nev. – At the Canadian-owned Barrick Goldstrike mine in northeastern Nevada, 30 giant pumps draw 68,000 gallons of water a minute to the surface, 24 hours a day. The pumps have lowered the water table under the open pit mine 1,200 feet. This dewatering keeps the pit bottom, which is now some 800 feet […]