Just today the draft agreement between Utah and Nevada was circulated for public review. Public hearings to be held next week in various locales that includes Salt Lake City and Delta. The rhetoric evident from Utah state press releases is that the agreement equitably allocates water to be transferred from the Great Basin to the Las Vegas Valley. State DNR Director Mike Styler claims that the agreement will be fair to water users on both sides of the border. Two thirds of the water lies on the Utah side of the border, but the bulk of the diversion will be piped to Las Vegas. There is still an agreement to collect hydrogeologic, biological, and other types of data before the application is acted upon by the Nevada State Water Engineer.

A vague process is described where if adverse impacts are observed the Southern Nevada Water Authority will have the ability to offer various mitigation measures. Alternatively, if this mitigation is unacceptable a review panel composed of bi-state authorities would attempt to resolve the dispute. Its unclear how the pumping massive quantities of water could be mitigated once that water has been pumped. Once the water is removed from the system there is no way to mitigate the loss of springs and vegetation reliant upon those springs at places like Great Basin National Park. There is no way to mitigate reduced air quality once vegetation disappears that holds the soil substrate in place so as to prevent dust storms along the Wasatch Front. Please tell your legislator, governor, and government agencies that this agreement is not in the best interests of rural Nevadans and Utahns.