Draining groundwater not the answer

The Southern Nevada Water Authority has proposed to increase usage of groundwater in 21 desert valleys in eastern Nevada (an area the size of Vermont) to supplement the water supply of seven southern-Nevada water districts, including Las Vegas. Increased groundwater pumping in Nevada will affect Utahns.

Two valleys lie on the Nevada-Utah border (Snake Valley, Juab and Millard counties; Virgin River Valley, Washington County). A study published by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1995 and upheld by the Utah Geological Survey in 2005 concluded that withdrawal of 25,000 acre-feet (the amount of water that would flood 25,000 acres to one foot deep) per year would deplete the Snake Valley aquifer and lower the water table. Pumping from Spring Valley (west of Snake Valley) could deplete an additional 4,000 acre-feet per year that presently flows into Snake Valley.

Depletions of Snake Valley groundwater will shrink wetlands. Dehydration of the landscape will eliminate wetland plants and animals, impact any animal needing drinking water and promote increased temperature fluctuations and dust. Dust can carry disease and cancer-causing particles. Indeed, the Utah Medical Association and Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment have identified major health concerns associated with Snake Valley dust.

Lowering the water table reduces water pressure. Salty groundwater lying under the Salt Lake Desert is held at bay by existing water pressure, but will contaminate fresh groundwater as pressure drops. Water table declines cause ground subsidence (gravel and sand that is loosely packed when saturated with water compacts under its own weight when dehydrated). Subsidence is already prevalent throughout the southwest (including in Las Vegas), exceeding 30 feet in parts of California. It permanently reduces water-storage capacity and often damages buildings.

Water is heavy, requiring energy for transport. Pumping costs will increase when the water table is lowered. It is often said that water flows toward money because only the wealthy can afford large pumping projects. The SNWA has amassed considerable capital and political support to pursue distant groundwater. If Nevada gains the right to Utah groundwater, it is unlikely to be returned.

The rising cost of pumping, deteriorating range conditions, loss of wetlands and worsening air quality will lower local property value and quality of life in Snake Valley while distant people in southern Nevada benefit, at least as long as the water lasts. But, export of Utah water to Nevada is not just a local problem. Health consequences will spread throughout Utah with the Snake Valley dust. Lowered property values, reduced water supply and increased economic hardship in western Utah will impoverish the entire state.