Matt Jenkins’ story “Squeezing water from a
stone” was well researched and informative, but I am afraid that
the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s (SNWA) efforts to
acquire water are just the tip of the iceberg (HCN, 9/19/05:
Squeezing Water from a Stone). Lincoln County caved in because they
did not have the money to fight back and SNWA offered half their
water claims to the county for its use if the county dropped its
protests. This means that the county, in partnership with Vidler
Water Co., can eventually develop as much water as SNWA. Just in
case this scenario is not grim enough, one of the state’s
largest developers is buying up vast amounts of water rights.
It seems to me that we desperately need a Manhattan
Project for the environmentally sustainable development and
allocation of water resources in the West and a complete rewrite of
Western water laws. There is no way that the Colorado River and
Southwestern groundwater can indefinitely fuel the explosive growth
of the Southwest without creating an environmental disaster for
everyone and everything outside the city limits.
Don Shanks
Pioche, Nevada
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline A Manhattan Project for Western Water.
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