PIPELINE FUTURE: Water officials rush to craft bill in response to court ruling

Special session might include bill to address court ruling

By HENRY BREAN
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

When lawmakers return to Carson City this month to wrestle with the state's $881 million budget deficit, water officials want them to take on another bit of business: the recent Supreme Court ruling that could doom the Southern Nevada Water Authority's multibillion-dollar pipeline project.

Allen Biaggi, director of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, confirmed Wednesday that he is crafting a bill for state lawmakers to consider during the special session set to start Feb. 23.

The measure is described as a quick legislative fix for the Jan. 28 Nevada Supreme Court ruling that could cloud thousands of pumping rights and jeopardize plans to supply Las Vegas with water siphoned from across eastern Nevada.
It will be up to Gov. Jim Gibbons to decide whether to add the proposed bill to the agenda for the special session.

"We're certainly considering it," said Lynn Hettrick, Gibbons' deputy chief of staff. "This has a huge impact to the state of Nevada and not just the Southern Nevada Water Authority."

The state's chief water regulator, acting State Engineer Jason King, has said the high court's decision could cause "chaos" for the entire water rights system in Nevada.

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HAVE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

Public Budget Hearings on Saturday

As you are probably aware, the State of Nevada is facing a massive budget shortfall of nearly $900 million dollars.  As a result, the Governor has announced plans for a special session of the Nevada Legislature to look at ways to fill this gap.

Important Conservation Programs Are At Risk!

Many programs and services are on the block, including the possibility of closing state parks and the sweeping of key trust finds for environmental improvements.  If these actions are taken, it could result in long-term problems that would take years to recover from.

Click here to read Action Alert

 

Conservation League critical of Gibbons, gives grade of ‘F’

By David McGrath Schwartz
Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010 | 11:45 a.m.

The Nevada Conservation League gave Gov. Jim Gibbons a grade of "F" on his conservation record, criticizing him for appointments to the Wildlife Commission, a "failure to lead" on environmental issues and not working more with hunting and conservation groups.

The environmental group said "voters should see a stronger leader with a solid conservation ethic in the governor’s cffice," according to the report.

The Conservation League criticized Gibbons on four bills that were a priority for the group. This included a bill to allow an apprentice hunting program that had unanimous support in the Legislature, and another that set up regulations for off-highway vehicles that had broad support from a coalition of off-roaders and conservationists. Additionally, the report criticized Gibbons for appointing a majority to the Board of Wildlife Commissioners "whose singular focus is to restore mule deer herds via predator management programs." Gibbons has drawn fire from some of the state’s largest hunting groups for some of his appointments.

The group gave Gibbons an F in leadership, an F in budgeting and administration, and Ds in his appointments and Legislative session.

Gibbons spokesman Dan Burns was not immediately available for comment. But he told the Reno Gazette-Journal: “They must be talking about someone else. Their criticism is laughable."

See the Scorecard report

A stink over plan to haul trash to Nevada desert

By Michael Cabanatuan, Chronicle Staff Writer

In the dusty Nevada desert, about 30 miles east of the playa where Bay Area artists and hipsters gather annually to build a temporary city at the Burning Man festival, a San Francisco garbage company wants to build a dump for Bay Area trash.

But a group of residents in the Winnemucca area, near where Recology seeks to build the 1-square-mile landfill, wants the company to leave the desert alone - and California to keep its garbage to itself.

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