Public Input Needed to Stop SNWA Pipeline
Food and Water Watch, 28.02.2012 23:14
The SNWA's proposed $15 billion dollar pipeline from northern Nevada to Las Vegas needs to be stopped before the irreverible damage is done to sensitive desert ecosystems and the many diverse communities that depend upon these aquifers for thier lives and cultures. IF this pipeline goes through, SNWA General Manager Pat Mulroy may likely be found to be complicit with cultural genocide against the Paiute and Goshute Nations by stealing water from beneath their feet and selling it to her developer friends like Harvey Whittemore, mega-developer of Coyote Springs on U.S. 93 north.
February 27, 2012
Dear Supporter,
We're running out of time. There are big decisions being made about the $15 billion Nevada pipeline in the next few months, but no elected official has yet answered the question of who will pay for this multibillion-dollar project. Can you ask your elected officials to discuss Nevada's budget before moving forward with a $15 billion boondoggle?
As you may have heard, we scored a small victory recently when the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) reduced the amount of water they're demanding by about 15 percent. This is a good step, and it means they're feeling the pressure of public scrutiny.
But if you do the math, that's still more than 34 billion gallons of water that would be extracted from sensitive desert habitat — including from state parks and wildlife areas, and even the groundwater of the Great Basin National Park. Unfortunately, the environmental impacts on northern Nevada would still be severe — so all this really means is that Las Vegas residents will end up paying more per gallon of water. Join us in demanding that our representatives hold hearings on the costs of this exorbitantly priced project.
Our elected officials should be making smarter decisions for our economy and our environment:
http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9493
Thanks for taking action,
Marie Logan
Nevada Organizer
Food & Water Watch
mlogan@fwwatch.org
November 28th, 2011
Las Vegans Speak Out Against Expensive SNWA Pipeline Project
"LAS VEGAS — Today a coalition of environmental and consumer organizations led by Food & Water Watch and Great Basin Water Network (GBWN) announced at a press conference that more than 2,000 Las Vegans so far have submitted statements in opposition to a proposed multi-billion dollar, 300-mile pipeline to siphon groundwater from rural Nevada and Utah for export to Southern Nevada.
Opposition statements are still being collected in advance of the Dec. 2 deadline and will be delivered to the state engineer, who has the responsibility to deny, partially deny or approve the demand by the Southern Nevada Water Authority to export 41 billion gallons of water annually.
The proposed Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) pipeline project would impose enormous environmental and economic costs on the state of Nevada and metropolitan Las Vegas, which already have among the nation’s highest rates of foreclosures, bankruptcies and unemployment, and threaten the recovery from a brutal recession. By most recent estimates, the project would cost upwards of $15 billion that would ultimately be billed to ratepayers. A study commissioned by SNWA showed that businesses would see their water bills more than double if the project is approved, while residential users would see their water bills triple.
“This pipeline is an extravagance we just can’t afford,” said Nevada Assemblyman Joe Hogan, D-Las Vegas, who spoke at today’s press conference. “This project is irresponsibly short-sighted. If we want Las Vegas to be around for future generations, we must make smart decisions about how we manage our most precious natural resource, and this pipeline is anything but smart.”
“In tough economic times, it is outrageous that such a boondoggle could be approved,” said Marie Logan, Nevada organizer for Food & Water Watch. “This pipeline project would only benefit a handful of developers while the 2.6 million Nevada taxpayers and thousands of Las Vegas ratepayers will be stuck paying the bill for a project that will ultimately bankrupt the state’s natural resources.”
The SNWA pipeline project would have an enormous and irreversible impact on the sensitive desert landscape of northern Nevada and even parts of Utah. It would affect many kinds of native wildlife, including several endangered species, and wild horses and burros. Even the pristine Great Basin National Park will be affected. The loss of vegetation will result in dust storms and could adversely impact air quality throughout the region of extraction.
Any resident of Las Vegas who is concerned about the economic and environmental costs of the pipeline project can sign and comment on the project here. Comments will be delivered to the Nevada State Engineer. Residents can also contact their Clark County Commissioner and ask them to publicly oppose the project.
The coalition responsible for gathering statements of opposition of the pipeline project includes Food & Water Watch, Great Basin Water Network, Nevada Conservation League, the Toiyabe Chapter of the Sierra Club, Change.org, National Parks Conservation Association, Center For Biological Diversity, Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, Southern Nevada Residents for Responsible Growth and ProgressNow Nevada.
GBWN is a coalition of ranchers, farmers, American Indian Tribes, environmentalists, elected officials, and other concerned citizens dedicated to stopping destructive interbasin water transfers like the Las Vegas water pipeline, promoting wise water policies, and preserving the environment and economies of rural Nevada and Utah."
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/pressreleases/las-vegans-speak-out-against-expensive-snwa-pipeline-project/
Another consideration for General Mulroy and her SNWA team of pipeline proponents is the effect of cultural genocide against the Paiutes of eastern Nevada and western Utah that depend upon the aquifer water of the snake and Spring Valley ecosystem for their survival. The SNWA pipeline is forcing drought conditions upon the Paiutes and Goshutes by removing the aquifer water with their pipeline and transporting it to Las Vegas and Coyote Springs (150,000 more houses planned by developer Harvey Whittemore) for leapfrog suburban sprawl.
Cultural genocide of indigenous North American peoples has begun from the moment Cristobal Colon (aka Christopher Columbus) set foot on "Hispaniola", the homeland of indigenous Taino people. Today cultural genocide continues with the likes of SNWA General Manager Patricia Mulroy advocating the removal of the water under the feet of the Paiutes so that her developer friends and supporters can plan their suburban sprawl projects out in the desert. According to Gen. Mulroy, the Paiutes and Goshutes would be better off leaving their ancestral lands and joining the "civilized" people in the cities. Forced relocation by threat of water removal is nothing less than cultural genocide against the indigenous Paiutes and Goshutes. One would think that with Gen. Mulroy's German ancestry she would be somewhat more aware of the definitions of cultural genocide by forced assimilation and loss of indigenous lands.
The Paiutes of Eastern Nevada and Western Utah are today in a similar situation as were the Owens Valley Paiutes at the turn of the century when William Mullholland and other developer crooks used the Owens Valley water to rake in millions from development projects in the San Fernando Valley.
http://www.bishoppaiutetribe.com/assets/ordinances/WaterLaw.pdf
Deception was used to gain the Owens Valley water, and the SNWA is following the path of Otis, chandler Mulholland and the other theives of the LADWP that contributed to the cultural genocide of the Owens Valley Paiutes and the ecological destruction of the Owens Valley and Owens Lake ecosystem.
"The California Water Wars: 1905-?
Through bribery, shady dealings, and out and out lies, the heavy-handed leaders of Los Angeles at the turn of the century began as early as 1905 to purchase land and water rights in the Owens Valley, convincing the residents that water would not be used for irrigation, only for domestic purposes.
Mullholland was furthermore successful at convincing the populace of Los Angeles that it was facing a water crisis, when in fact, there was no imminent emergency whatsoever. Even as the metropolis began to swell, no water woes were in sight."
http://lorlie6.hubpages.com/hub/My-Raped-Paradise