Both the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News are reporting that state officials in UT and NV will soon come to an agreement on the controversial pipeline from the Snake Valley to Las Vegas in the near future. Some had thought that the UT Governor to be Gary Herbert may be inclined to protect Utah Water Rights despite his reputation as not being one that is sympathetic to environmental causes. Utah Department of Natural Resources Mike Styler has attempted to assuage Utahns that any agreement would be protective of Utahns. This is hyperbole at best since the impacts of the water grab have yet to be definitively studied, but preliminarily includes significant effects to Wasatch Front Air Quality as well as the groundwater mining sure to occur in Utah. Styler now believes that a protracted water war between Utah and Nevada is not in the best interests of Snake Valley, but fails to acknowledge that impacts cannot be mitigated once the pipeline is built and the taps are turned on so that it would be likely to turn the valley into a dustbowl. Utah State Water Engineer and Lt. Gov. Herbert are unfortunately proponents of the current course of action, and are likely to strike deal regardless of what side the science comes out on. Its hard to justify any kind of a deal with the blinders that our current policymakers are wearing. Make sure you let them know that this deal is premature. In reality, our state leaders should be fighting NV tooth and nail to prevent this water grab–since this is what is in the best interests of Snake Valley residents and the rest of the state. One wonders what the real motivation is for this deal. It could be some kind of quid pro quo related to Utah water interests in Lake Powell.