The state of Nevada proposal to pump 25,000 acre-feet of water from a shared bi-state aquifer between Utah and Nevada in the Snake Valley defies common sense and may violate Utah law.
   An acre-foot of water is the amount of water needed to cover an acre of land with one foot of water. There are 325,851 gallons of water in an acre-foot. If you do the math this comes out to more than 8 billion gallons of water (approximately) to be pumped from a critical aquifer in one of the driest parts of the country. Most recognize that the loss of sub-surface water will certainly impact and probably dry up scarce surface waters.
   Luckily, this project will not move forward without the state of Utah’s approval of the plan. Utah state law often requires groundwater management plans where the state water engineer approves a plan to manage groundwater. Although this statute does not speak directly about bi-state aquifers, it does mandate that not more than a “safe yield” of water be pumped from an aquifer. The proposal must take no more water out of the aquifer than is coming in through natural recharge.
   It is ridiculous to assume that the amount of water that Nevada proposes to pump from this aquifer could be naturally recharged in one of the most arid regions of the country.
   
   Joel M. Ban
   Salt Lake City