Council hopes to suspend water talks

Members of the Snake Valley Aquifer Advisory Council are poised to ask Gov. Gary Herbert to suspend negotiations with Nevada over a controversial water-sharing agreement that proposes to split the water in the valley that borders the two states.

"That is something we are considering," said Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon, a member of the council.

Member Don Anderson said suspending negotiations and taking time to "step back" would be the most prudent position given an October decision by a Nevada judge that questions the scientific and ecological validity of a plan to build a 285-mile pipeline.

The pipeline project, sought by the Southern Nevada Water Authority, proposes to convey water from multiple basin aquifers, including Snake Valley, to Las Vegas.

A harshly worded ruling by a Nevada district judge said the Nevada state engineer "abused his discretion" and acted arbitrarily without sound science when water-rights applications were granted to SNWA in three of the valleys.

The judge described it as a decision that hoped for the best and failed to consider "oppressive" consequences and impacts to downstream users.

"The judge is really clearly saying what everyone has been thinking," Anderson said.

Anderson and Corroon say any negotiations over the draft agreement crafted by two teams from Nevada and Utah should be put on hold until Nevada works out its own problems.

"Rather than going through an agreement and then going back to the drawing board, we would rather start at the drawing board and go forward in the future when we have sufficient information," Corroon said.

Herbert's spokeswoman Angie Welling said the governor wants to attend the next meeting of the advisory council to discuss its request, the draft agreement and potential impacts of the court ruling.

That meeting had been canceled for next week, because Herbert will be in Washington, D.C. It will be rescheduled.

"We'd love to have the governor at our next meeting to discuss why we believe the negotiations will need to be delayed," said Millard County Commission chairwoman Kathy Walker, an advisory council member.

The draft agreement, released in August, was penned after more than four years of discussion by negotiators and water engineers from both states.

The agreement divides "allocated" and "unallocated" water from the aquifer and is intended to recognize and protect existing water rights, as well as provide for a sharing of potential "reserve" water. It puts in place environmental protections and provides for mitigation of impacts should existing water users suffer detrimental effects.

Still, critics say it gives up too much water when the science has not proved the annual water yield of the aquifer is sufficient to sustain pumping and replenish itself.

"The court's decision clearly begs for better science," said Steve Erickson with the Great Basin Water Network, predicting the ruling will force Nevada officials to regroup on the negotiating position.

Utah's executive director of the Department of Natural Resources, Mike Styler, a member of Utah's negotiating team, has declined to comment on the ruling's potential impact to negotiations since it was announced last month.

SNWA officials say they plan to appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.

e-mail: amyjoi@desnews.com