Dr. James Deacon, a biologist and Professor Emeritus of Environmental Studies and Biological Sciences at UNLV, and his colleagues recently addressed the Southern Nevada Water Authority's (SNWA) plan to tap eastern Nevada ground water and pipe it to the Las Vegas area in the September 2007 issue (volume 57, issue 8) of BioScience Magazine.
The article was summarized in a 7 September 2007 article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal (reprinted below) written byLisa Kim Bach; the photo of Dr. Deacon is by R-J photographer Sara Tramiel.
I first met Jim in 1976, soon after I arrived at the Desert Research Institute. He was chair of the Biological Sciences Department at UNLV, and several of us went down to discuss doing some limnological modeling work on Lake Mead, which, at the time was "Jim Deacon's lake", just like Lake Tahoe was (still is?) "Charles Goldman's lake" (from UC-Davis). We sort of had to get his blessing. He was not opposed to our effort, but we never got the work. Yeah, everyone had to have a lake back in those days and I suspect that is truer than ever these days. But I digress.
The BioScience article's abstract is reprinted below; the article is available here and as a pdf:
Fueling Population Growth in Las Vegas: How Large-scale Groundwater Withdrawal Could Burn Regional Biodiversity
Abstract
Explosive growth in Las Vegas, Nevada, has stimulated demand for additional water supplies. To meet these needs, local officials hope to obtain rights to about 200,000 acre-feet (246.70 million cubic meters [m3]) per year from a regional groundwater aquifer extending from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Death Valley, California. Officials from satellite communities are pursuing rights to an additional 870,487 acre-feet (1.07 billion m3) per year. If granted, these new permits would trigger declines in groundwater across at least 78 basins covering nearly 130,000 square kilometers. Water-rights decisions have historically interpreted economic development as a more compelling public interest than maintenance of natural systems. If economic development continues to drive allocation decisions, consequent declines in the water table, spring discharge, wetland area, and streamflow will adversely affect 20 federally listed species, 137 other water-dependent endemic species, and thousands of rural domestic and agricultural water users in the region. Reducing consumption and implementing cost-effective technologies, such as recovery of urban runoff and shallow saline groundwater, indirect reuse of potable water, and desalinization, offer ways to meet metropolitan and ecological needs within the limits of the resource.
Keywords: groundwater, water rights, public trust, endangered species, ecological integrity
The R-J article follows.
Professor Doubts Surplus
Tapping rural groundwater will cause harm
by Lisa Kim Bach, Las Vegas Review-Journal
There's no such thing as "surplus water."
It might be described that way by Southern Nevada Water Authority officials when they apply for permission to tap into the state's rural water supply, said James Deacon, a professor emeritus of environmental studies at UNLV.
But there really is no "surplus."
Every drop that's siphoned off to slake the growing thirst of Las Vegas already sustains a form of life, said Deacon, the lead author of a newly published research piece in BioScience magazine.
The article in the September issue examines the consequences of depleting Nevada's groundwater reserves. It's a practice Deacon said poses a serious threat to both Nevada agriculture and 20 species of already endangered wildlife, from the Devil's Hole pupfish to the Southwestern Willow flycatcher.
"The only way we're going to avoid environmental disaster and disaster to rural livelihoods is to combine growth stabilization policies with creative, cutting-edge technology," Deacon said, echoing the points he presented to readers of the national publication on biology research.
That means pushing conservation over consumption, using technology to improve water reclamation, and finding a way to slow growth.
Deacon acknowledged that turning away from growth and allowing the demand for water to flatten out flies in the face of the developer-friendly policies maintained by local governments. He hopes to shift public support away from growth agendas and refocus it on keeping Las Vegas livable. [Emboldening mine]
"This is the most policy-directed piece of science writing I've ever done," Deacon said of the peer-reviewed article crafted over four years. "We must recognize the cost we're imposing, not only on our neighbors, but also on the environment."
The impetus for Deacon's scholarly activism is the water authority's plan to divert water from a rural aquifer that extends across the central and southern state for use in Las Vegas.
In April, the state engineer gave the water authority permission to take up to 40,000 acre-feet of water annually from Spring Valley, the White Pine County aquifer due west of Snake Valley. The water authority is seeking permission to tap into other eastern Nevada water resources.
Kay Brothers, deputy general manager of the water authority, has read part of Deacon's article and been briefed on the rest of it by staff members. She said she respects Deacon and his position but said he fails to consider the safeguards that will prevent the worst-case scenario from happening.
"You can manage the groundwater system," Brothers said Thursday. "There's also a body of law in place to protect the groundwater system and monitor the impact on sensitive resources."
And no one can deny the need for more water, which Brothers said is not rooted solely in growth. Drawing off water from the rural groundwater reserves also is a form of drought protection at a time when Colorado River resources are diminishing.
"If we can't utilize the groundwater resources in this state, what are we going to do?" Brothers asked.
The water authority already encourages conservation and issues rebates for replacing grass with desert-friendly landscaping, Brothers said. The water authority also has negotiated for a larger share of the Colorado River.
But controlling growth, as Deacon suggests, is something Brothers said she cannot even begin to address.
"I don't know how to do that," Brothers said. "How do you tell people not to move here?"
Deacon examined the laws that govern water use and the protection of sensitive resources and found them lacking.
The laws were written at a time when no one envisioned the type of expansion now taking place, he said. One of the results is that the potential claims on rural water reserves are now greater than the expected annual input.
Deacon found that existing groundwater permits for the 78 basins examined in the article appropriate 102 percent of the basins' cumulative perennial yield. That gap could widen drastically should the state engineer approve additional requests from other entities for water allocations from the rural reserves.
History shows the consequences of that course of action, Deacon said.
In the 1950s, overzealous groundwater pumping led to the failure of major Las Vegas Valley springs, leading to the extinction of more than one native fish, including the Las Vegas dace.
"Providing for the water needs of a growing Las Vegas Valley by relying on historical practices is a recipe for ecological disaster," Deacon said in the article.
"New technologies can help increase water availability and efficiency of use, but in the long run they are futile unless combined with reduced growth of human populations."
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