A judge in Nevada’s seventh Judicial District overturned Nevada State Water Engineer Tracy Taylor’s decision approving large water diversions from Cave, Delmar, and Dry Lake Valleys. These diversions to Las Vegas would have been parlayed with Spring and Snake Valley, which of course is located mostly in Utah, but is fed primarily by Nevada snowmelt. “The State Engineer’s decision was arbitrary, oppressive and a manifest abuse of discretion,” says the ruling, however the ruling will surely be appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court. The reason this ruling is so critical is because without this water the plan to divert snake and spring valley would become economically infeasible since predicted costs are well in the many billions of dollars. The Nevada Judge picked up on the fact that the science supporting the diversions at the levels proposed is suspect. This is certainly a positive development in the struggle to fight this ill conceived proposal, but since an appeal is likely we’ll have to stay tuned to see what ultimately happens.