Tag Archives: snake valley

Water News Roundup – June 21, 2010

21 Jun

Las Vegas Sun: Supreme Court rules on Las Vegas water applications – It’s back to square one for the Southern Nevada Water Authority in its efforts to pump thousands of acre feet of water from rural Nevada to serve the Las Vegas area.

KSL:

Nevada high court withdraws water right ruling – The Nevada Supreme Court has withdrawn an earlier ruling in a key water rights case, giving new life to a proposal to build a massive pipeline to get water from the northeastern part of the state to Las Vegas.

Chevron says flush of Red Butte Creek appears to be successful – A flush of water rushed down Red Butte Creek in an effort to push any lingering oil residue downstream. Chevron pumped extra water into the creek Saturday afternoon.

Deseret News: Great Salt Lake had its day in Utah – Transport a northern Utahn from a hundred years ago to today, and he’d certainly be shocked by all our technology, as well as our hustle and bustle. He or she would also likely be surprised that many residents have never visited a Great Salt Lake beach or so much as dipped a toe in the briny waters of the lake.

Interesting article on water right pricing and how it is getting more expensive to buy water (via Aguanomics)

Water News Roundup – June 14, 2010

14 Jun

Back from vacation and very well rested.  Moab was awesome and St. George even more beautiful than I remember.  So, what’s with all the boil orders of late?  There are so many short articles on boil orders that I’ve left them out of the roundup…  Here’s the rest.  Enjoy!

KSL:

LDS Church protests Snake Valley plan – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has joined hundreds to file a protest with the state of Nevada over a proposal to pump and pipe groundwater from the Snake Valley and surrounding areas to Las Vegas.

Morgan County officials watching Weber River closely – It certainly is a sight to see: an 18-wheeler crossing a small bridge with rushing water high enough to touch the bottom of the bridge.  Morgan County workers, though, say it’s not a problem.

2 dams on ‘Level 1 alert’ due to extremely full reservoirs – Utah’s reservoirs are suddenly bulging with water, and this week officials declared what’s called a Level One Alert for two dams on the Utah-Wyoming border.

Provo Daily Herald: Official: Oil spill hasn’t reach the Great Salt Lake yet – Emergency workers believe they have stopped a 21,000-gallon oil leak from reaching the environmentally sensitive Great Salt Lake, one of the West’s most important inland water bodies for migratory birds that use it as a place to rest, eat and breed.

Deseret News:

Mussel causes restrictions at Sand Hollow Reservoir – In an emergency action taken Thursday, the state wildlife board extended its lasso of boater-related restrictions over Sand Hollow Reservoir in order to control the infestation of invasive mussels.

Mormon church among protesters of Las Vegas water plan – Opponents of a controversial pipeline that would tap water from a shared Nevada/Utah aquifer and convey it to Las Vegas say more than 2,300 protests have been filed against the plan, including objections mounted by the Mormon church.

Rep. Jim Matheson and Mayor Ralph Becker testify in D.C. to expand watershed protection – While clean drinking water became a priority this week for Oakley and Lindon residents as they boiled water contaminated by floods, it’s always on the mind of Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah

Salt Lake Tribune:

Lake Powell Pipeline to water Las Vegas? – Second Congressional District challenger Claudia Wright this week raised the specter of a Las Vegas water grab via Utah’s own proposed Lake Powell pipeline, a puzzling possibility that she said residents of Utah’s Dixie have warned her about.

Lake is the only source of sulfate of potash – Lately there has been a lot of discussion about Great Salt Lake Minerals’ plans to expand our solar evaporation ponds in order to produce more sulfate of potash (SOP), an all-natural crop nutrient. But there is confusion about what SOP is, as well as what the expansion would provide.

Oil shale and the future“The task is great. So is the need. And there is no time to lose.” – Exxon’s 1980 “White Paper”

Those stirring words concluded a 10-page document released in the early summer 30 years ago outlining Exxon’s grand plan to help solve the nation’s energy crisis of the 1970s.

SLC residents angry, sad over oil-fouled yards and waterways – [Resident’s] backyard serenity was destroyed this weekend when an underground Chevron pipeline ruptured just south of Red Butte Gardens, near the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, and leaked an estimated 21,000 gallons of oil into Red Butte Creek, that flowed to Liberty Park pond and the Jordan River.

Containment the goal of initial oil spill cleanup – Chevron is expected to unveil a cleanup plan this morning, after a day in which the company focused on containing an oil leak that fouled Red Butte Creek and Liberty Park pond, in hopes of keeping the toxic spill from reaching the Great Salt Lake.

KCPW: Becker says city investigation of oil spill underway – Now, the hope is that oil won’t reach the Great Salt Lake.  What’s being done to prevent that from happening, and who will hold Chevron’s feet to the fire to make sure the cleanup is fully completed and paid for?  KCPW’s Jeff Robinson spoke with Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker.

Water News Roundup – May 4, 2010

4 May

Deseret News: More than 1,600 file protests over plan to tap Snake Valley aquifer – The protests are piling up over a plan that proposes to tap water from an aquifer in Snake Valley that straddles the border of Utah and Nevada.

St. George Spectrum: Water week educates residents – Water managers across Utah kicked off a series of tours, educational events and other activities Monday as part of Water Week, a statewide effort to promote water conservation and educate about how people use water.

Salt Lake Tribune – Editorial: Shrinking lake – The Great Salt Lake is shrinking, taking vital wetlands with it. While the lake level historically rises and falls dramatically, warming temperatures and dwindling snowpack could mean a permanently smaller lake. If that happens, millions of birds and other wildlife could lose vital food, shelter and nesting areas.

Water News Roundup – April 28, 2010

28 Apr

Current conditions:  SNOWING!!! Rrrrrr!

Salt Lake Tribune: Professor says law supports Great Salt Lake water allocation – Great Salt Lake needs a water allocation.  That will be the message presented at the 2010 Great Salt Lake Issues Forum today through Friday at the University of Utah, featuring several experts speaking at the Ft. Douglas Officer’s Club.

Deseret News: Construction underway for water conservation center – The district broke ground Tuesday on the WaterSmart Education Center — a $3.5 million, 9,400-square-foot building at the entrance of the Conservation Garden Park, 8215 S. 1300 West. The multi-use facility will act as home base for horticulturists, with classrooms, exhibits and a greenhouse.

Las Vegas Sun: Gov. waiting to see if state Supreme Court reconsiders ruling on water rights – Gov. Jim Gibbons is going to wait before deciding what action to take to see if the Nevada Supreme Court reconsiders a ruling involving pumping 40,000 acre feet of water from eastern Nevada to Las Vegas.

Water News Roundup – April 27, 2010

27 Apr

KCPW: Salt Lake County Council mulls Advisory Commission for Jordan River – he Salt Lake County Council will discuss tomorrow whether to create a multi-jurisdictional advisory commission to oversee development and open space preservation along the Jordan River.

KSL: Construction set for new water education center – Groundbreaking ceremonies are planned for Tuesday at the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District’s new WaterSmart Education Center in West Jordan.  The center will promote water conservation and sustainability. It will include exhibits, a greenhouse, office space and rooms for classes, lectures and special events.

Salt Lake Tribune – Editorial: Drying Up – Nobody would ever call Pat Mulroy diplomatic. The executive director of the Southern Nevada Water Authority can be abrasive and confrontational, and her recent comments about Nevada and Utah water resources were true to form.

Water News Roundup – April 26, 2010

26 Apr

Daily Herald:

Pipeline to bring 400 jobs, $235 million to local economy – As a massive project to pipe the Murdock Canal gets underway, officials are lauding the work as a boon to the local economy.

CUP pipeline construction will start this fall – Engineers for a 5-foot water pipeline project are looking for input from the public on where the pipeline should go.

Santaquin gets $7 million for water treatment plant – Representatives of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development stopped by to present Santaquin with a $7 million loan/grant for its forthcoming wastewater treatment plant.

Deseret NewsBishop and Chaffetz join water fight in congress – A frontier proverb said that whiskey is for drinking, and water is for fighting over. Holding true to that, a big water fight broke out in Congress on Wednesday.

Salt Lake Tribune:

Official: Water deal is critical – A top Nevada water chief made a splash during a recent Las Vegas television interview, trash-talking Salt Lake City for being too bucolic, its residents for not being able to spell conservation and Utah Gov. Gary Herbert for not signing a contentious Snake Valley water-sharing agreement.

Back on the Green – Emmett Heath caught his first trout on the Green River below Flaming Gorge Reservoir before the dam was even completed.

Will we be ready when drought comes to stay? – In 1934, the driest year of the Dust Bowl, Big Cottonwood creek, which supplies almost 25 percent of Salt Lake Valley water, ran dry. In 1935, the year of Black Sunday, Utah Lake was empty.

Salt Lake Tribune – Editorial: Bridging Utah Lake – Leon Harward wants to build a 5.8 mile-long private toll bridge across Utah Lake. Because this project would alter the air and water quality in Utah County in multiple ways, the importance of an environmental assessment cannot be overstated. Yet this project will not be subject to a federal environmental impact statement.

Water New Roundup – April 15, 2010

15 Apr

KSL:

Nevada water director criticizes Utah – The head of the Southern Nevada Water Authority took shots at Utah in a recent interview, ridiculing Salt Lake City and its high water usage.

(Wow!  Them’s fightin’ words Pat.  I can just see the reverse psychology here.  Pat, “You guys don’t know how to conserve!” Salt-Lakers, “Oh yeah??? Well watch THIS!”)

April storm clobbers northern Utah, raises snowpack – Thanks to a series of powerful storms, the first half of April blanketed much of the Wasatch mountain range with a fifth of its average annual snowfall.

Deseret News: Great weather for golf (No story here, but the DN saw fit to take note that it is INDEED excellent weather for golfing… woohoo.)

Plus, The Golfing Index.

Water News Roundup – April 12, 2010

12 Apr

Salt Lake Tribune:

Sides gear up for new water fight – Ranchers, county governments, conservation groups and the Goshute tribe are crafting protests against a Nevada water utility’s new applications to pump Snake Valley water to Las Vegas, a conservation group said.

Utah’s first N-plant won’t float without water rights – The former uranium boomtown of Green River sits along I-70 in eastern Utah, 100 miles from the closest city. Now it may become the Western outpost of America’s nascent nuclear renaissance. Blue Castle Holdings, a three-year-old, politically connected startup, wants to build a nuclear power plant there — Utah’s first, and the first in the West since 1987.

Salt Lake Tribune – Editorial: Wilderness bill – An act of Congress to set aside 26,000 additional acres of wilderness in the Wasatch Mountain canyons east of the Salt Lake Valley could benefit water users. It could also benefit its sponsor, Utah Rep. Jim Matheson, whose vote against health care legislation has made him unpopular with some Democratic voters in the 2nd Congressional District.

Las Vegas Sun: Las Vegas can’t handle another era of unimpeded growth – A report by the Sonoran Institute, an Arizona-based nonprofit think tank, says that if the Las Vegas Valley’s population grows to capacity using the Bureau of Land Management acreage designated for development, even the most stringent water conservation measures won’t be enough to ensure that everyone has enough H2O.

Water News Roundup – March 22, 2010

22 Mar

Salt Lake Tribune:

Pumping too much water is sinking Cedar Valley – Since 1939, the Cedar Valley spreading west and north of Cedar City has dropped 100 feet and the only way to stop or slow the process is replenish the underlying aquifer with at least as much water as is being discharged through pumping.

Snake Valley water deal stalled for this year – A court ruling, and the inaction of Nevada lawmakers, means any agreement on Snake Valley water won’t happen until at least 2011, according to Mike Styler, executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources.

KSL: Spring ends a tale of 2 winters in Utah – Two winters came to Utah this year.  One, in southern Utah, delivered storm after storm that piled deeper-than-normal drifts of snow in the mountains.  The other, in northern Utah, offered only sporadic snow but nothing close to the 30-year average.

The Spectrum: UGS report: Water table down 4 feet – Reports on the Enoch Subsidence Study by the Utah Geological Survey topped the agenda at the Central Iron County Water Conservancy District meeting Thursday.

Water News Roundup – St. Patty’s Edition

17 Mar

Happy St. Patty’s Day!

KSL:

Heavy snow has S. Utah preparing for potential floods – Temperatures Tuesday pushed above 60 degrees for the first time this year in Cedar City, renewing attention on the possibility of flooding.

NV users seek quick resolution to water ruling – State water officials and others are hoping for a quick resolution to a Nevada Supreme Court ruling that many believe throws the validity of thousands of water rights into question.

The Spectrum: Fissures study to be presented at water district – Reports from the Utah Geological Survey are topping the agenda at Thursday’s Central Iron County Water Conservancy District meeting.

Wall Street Journal: U.S. Opens Spigot for California Farmers – Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced a sharp increase in federal water supplies for California’s agricultural Central Valley, further easing drought concerns in a state where El Niño rains have raised the mountain snowpack after three severely dry years.

Water News Roundup – March 15, 2010

15 Mar

Salt Lake Tribune:

Long-held water rights in Nevada could be invalid – A Nevada Supreme Court ruling has triggered a tidal wave of legal uncertainty over decades of water rights sought by thirsty Las Vegas, dealing a big setback to the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s plan for a massive pipeline project and raising questions about thousands of water rights around the state.

Snow forecast for parts of Utah – This weekend’s snowstorm is expected to dump 1 to 2 feet of snow on central and eastern Utah through Sunday with smaller storms stretching across the state’s northern reaches.

KSL: Why is the Jordan River running so fast and furious? – What’s going on with the Jordan River? We’re having a lousy snow year in Northern Utah, and the primary snowmelt season hasn’t begun. Yet the river is running fast and furious, at least in places.  Jeff Bryant is on TV! Cool!

New York Times: Saving U.S. Water and Sewer Systems Would Be Costly – One recent morning, George S. Hawkins, a long-haired environmentalist who now leads one of the largest and most prominent water and sewer systems, trudged to a street corner here where water was gushing into the air.

Happy to spot this particular article, although some of my school chums may disagree…

Wall Street Journal: Engineering Grads Earn the Most – New college graduates may be entering the worst job market in decades, but there are still some majors that pay off—and all of them are in the applied sciences.

Water News Roundup – February 1, 2010

1 Feb

Suddenly lots of water news… Snake Valley, canal regulation, new legislation, etc.  Enjoy!

Deseret News:

Nevada top court reverses ruling on water deal –  A controversial water deal between Utah and Nevada — one that appeared destined for signatures just weeks ago — was upended Thursday after Nevada’s Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling on the matter.

Amendment aims to clarify water taxation – A constitutional amendment that would give tax-exempt status to water-producing property was sent on with a favorable recommendation Thursday morning in a House committee meeting.

Salt Lake Tribune:

Ruling may sink Snake Valley water deal – A top water official moved too slowly on a 1989 Las Vegas request for certain water rights, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled Thursday — a finding that could delay or even kill a $3.5 billion proposal to pipe water 300 miles from Snake Valley to Sin City.

Utahns speak with one voice: no water deal – Anyway you slice the numbers in a new poll, most Utahns say a proposed Snake Valley water-sharing agreement with Nevada is a bad idea.  About 60 percent or more of all men, women, Democrats, Republicans, independents, Mormons and non-Mormons oppose the deal, which appeared all but done before a Nevada Supreme Court ruling Thursday smashed into it.

Great Salt Lake’s mercury source can’t hide forever – Scientists may finally be closing in on the source of mercury fouling Utah’s Great Salt Lake.  The Environmental Protection Agency is funding an effort by a University of Utah researcher and others to scan the air over the lake in search of mercury and any hints about where it’s coming from.

Salt Lake Tribune – EditorialCanal regulation – At 4,703 words, Utah House Bill 60 sets a record.

KCPWSenator wants to legalize rainwater collection – It’s been a year since Utah Senate Majority Leader Scott Jenkins first introduced his rainwater harvesting bill, but he says people are still “a little jumpy” about changing some of the oldest laws in Utah, its water laws. But it’s a common practice that’s becoming more popular as interest in gardening and sustainability grows. Jenkins notes that currently in Utah, people storing rainwater are actually breaking the law.

Water News Roundup – January 26, 2010

26 Jan

The SpectrumWater standards lax?  If you Google Cedar City safe drinking water, a link on the first page takes you to test results collected by an environmental group that are posted both on the group’s Web site, www.ewg.org, and the New York Times Web site.

Salt Lake Tribune – EditorialUtah’s pipeline problem – I have been fighting the proposed pipeline from Utah’s Snake Valley to Las Vegas for five years. This misguided project is one of three that seek to take water from Utah and move it out of state. It is astounding that Utah’s governor and the state Department of Natural Resources appear willing at some point to let the Snake Valley plan happen.

Big Gulp – A guy named Million wants to spend billions to pipe part of Wyoming’s Green River 400 miles to Denver and beyond. But as global warming threatens the flows in the Green, it would be foolhardy to suck great gulps of water from the stream. To sustain both wildlife and humans, the waters should be left alone.

Water News Roundup – January 25, 2010

25 Jan

KSLWater pipeline idea interests irrigation districts – Representatives of some of the Colorado municipalities and irrigation districts interested in drawing water from a proposed pipeline from Wyoming say they need more water regardless of the source.

Salt Lake Tribune – EditorialSinking Snake Valley – The opinion column by John D. Bredehoeft, formerly with the U.S. Geological Survey, details in most cogent terms why any Snake Valley water deal with Nevada should not be signed — no matter what safeguards might be included.

Deseret NewsUtah Legislature 2010: Water issues inundate Capitol Hill – This year’s legislative session will play host to a flood of environmental bills — many dealing with the management of water — with lawmakers tasked with determining if it is appropriate to “harvest” rain or “bank” local district water rights if they aren’t being used.

Latest Snowpack Map…


Also, for all of you fellow desk jockeys….

Here’s a new warning from health experts: Sitting is deadly. Scientists are increasingly warning that sitting for prolonged periods — even if you also exercise regularly — could be bad for your health.

Water News Roundup – January 20, 2010

20 Jan

KSLOptimistic ruling won’t hurt water deal – Colorado’s top water official is optimistic that a setback to a California water conservation plan won’t derail an agreement affecting the use of Colorado River by six other states in the West.

Salt Lake Tribune:

States walk fine line with law of the river – Question: Could Wyoming or Utah block a Colorado entrepreneur’s plan to pipe Green River water to Denver?

Colorado proposal stirs water fears –  A big gulp of the little stream that splits these sagebrush prairies might take a $3 billion detour across the Great Divide and into Colorado’s bullish future.

Salt Lake Tribune – EditorialGuv and Snake Valley – The National Parks Conservation Association commends Gov. Gary Herbert for stepping back and taking a thoughtful approach to the proposed Snake Valley water-sharing agreement with Nevada.

Ogden Standard ExaminerWater totals should be up by the end of the week – Top of Utah snow totals as of Tuesday morning were no better than a week before, which sounds odd considering how much it snowed and rained Monday.