There will be a hearing this coming Monday, August 15th to comment on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Draft Environmental Impact Study regarding the proposed “water grab” from the Great Basin to Las Vegas. The BLM spent four years studying and evaluating the plan and concluded that the pipeline will cause unmitigated and irreparable damage to the rural region.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Location: Henderson Convention Center @ 200 S. Water Street
Time: 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Southern Nevada Water Authority Proposal:
Build a 300-mile pipeline to ship billions of gallons of water from the Great Basin to Las Vegas each year. The pipeline could include up to 400 more miles of lateral lines.
What the BLM Says:
“Subsidence, 525 square miles will drop five feet or more, 8,000 acres of wetlands will be lost, 191,000 acres of shrub land wildlife habitat will be at high risk, along with more than 300 fragile springs and 193 miles of streams, 24,000 tons of dust per year will be kicked up in newly created deserts, critical habitats for antelope, deer, elk, sage grouse, trout and dozens of other species – many of them already endangered — will be severely affected.” See the draft Environmental Impact Study.
What the Sierra Club Says:
“Contrary to the publicly financed public relations job coming from the Southern Nevada Water Authority, impartial federal analysts warn that the Water Grab threatens an area as large as Vermont, five national wildlife refuges, four state wildlife areas, seven state parks, and two national parks including Great Basin National Park, and irreversible loss of surface water for recreation and wildlife, including wild horses and rare endangered species.
What Channel 8 Investigative Journalist George Knapp Says:
“The BLM has essentially confirmed many of the worst suspicions espoused by environmental groups — that this pipeline would be a disaster on an epic scale.” Read more here…..
The final meetings for public comment are next week:
- Las Vegas, Nev., Aug. 15 at 4 p.m., Henderson Convention Center, 200 S. Water Street
- Alamo, Nev., Aug. 16 at 5 p.m., Lincoln County Alamo Annex, 121 Joshua Tree Street
- Reno, Nev., Aug. 18 at 3 p.m., Sparks High School Large Gym, 820 15th Street
Make you plans now to attend one of the above meetings if you have a comment you’d like to make.