Pipeline project's proponents ready to state case (LV water grab-Reid fav)

[NVMojo]

Called Owen's Valley, Part 2 ...

Rural ranchers, big-city mayors and water experts will descend on Carson City next week for what could go down as one of the most important state hearings in Nevada history.

Starting Monday, the state's chief water regulator will hear testimony on the Southern Nevada Water Authority's plans to pipe billions of gallons of groundwater to Las Vegas from Spring Valley, a 1 million-acre watershed that includes portions of White Pine and Lincoln counties.

Based on evidence presented during the three-week hearing, State Engineer Tracy Taylor will decide how much water, if any, the water authority should be allowed to remove from Spring Valley, whose center lies about 250 miles north of Las Vegas.

To supporters and opponents of the pipeline project, the hearing represents nothing less than a battle for Nevada's soul.

Without water from Spring Valley, water authority General Manager Pat Mulroy said, Southern Nevada could exhaust its water supply within a decade, prompting the state's growth-based economy to shrivel on the vine.

But attorney Matt Kenna, who represents those opposed to the pipeline project, said large-scale groundwater pumping in White Pine County could wipe out springs, rare wildlife and the livelihoods of rural residents, including some of Nevada's pioneering families.

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http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Sep-09-Sat-2006/news/9540325.html