Tag Archives: SNWA

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Nevada high court withdraws water right ruling – The Nevada Supreme Court has withdrawn an earlier ruling in a key water rights case, giving new life to a proposal to build a massive pipeline to get water from the northeastern part of the state to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 – June 8, 2010

8 Jun

*** I’m headed for hot Moab for a bit of vacation tomorrow.  Water News will be back on Monday!**

Salt Lake Tribune:

Time to water, but just a little – OK, go ahead and water the lawn this week — but only once.  So advises the Utah Division of Water Resources, which posts a weekly lawn-watering guide at slowtheflow.org that is updated every Thursday.

Utah Lake Festival marks 6th year – Reed Price readily admits that Utah Lake doesn’t get the same respect as Utah’s other lakes.

High waters still threaten across Salt Lake County – From the backyard of his home on Canyonview Road, Jim Wilcox looked out over a rushing torrent of chocolate brown water that used to be little more, he said, than a “babbling brook.”

KSL: Officials confirm presence of Quagga mussels – Wildlife officials have confirmed the presence of quagga mussels in Sand Hollow Reservoir.

HCN:

One tough sucker – The razorback sucker evolved in a wild Colorado River. Now, humans are its biggest problem — and its only hope. (Article has a great video vignette on razorback sucker recovery efforts from biologist Abraham Karam’s point of view.)

Photo by Abraham Karam

A boring diagram – Las Vegas’ primary water supply — has been drawing down like a leaky tub over the past decade, thanks to prolonged drought in the Colorado River Basin.

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 19, 2010

19 Apr

Salt Lake Tribune:

Reservoir expected to spur Kanab growth The southern Utah town of Kanab, known for its red sandstone cliffs and mesas is getting a lake.  About 200 residents and dignitaries gathered Friday at a ranch house in the city’s outskirts and broke ground on an earthen dam that will create the Jackson Flat Reservoir.

Anglers prepare for new restrictions – New laws frequently create more questions than they answer. The Recreational Use of Public Water on Private Property law, more commonly known as HB141, is no different.

“There has been a lot of misinformation flying around. Some people think they can no longer fish streams on public land and that is just not true,” said Dean Mitchell, Outreach coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR).

The Spectrum: Conserving water – The Central Iron County Water Conservancy District is evaluating suggestions for water conservation made in a study by Montgomery, Watson and Harza, a consulting company that has been conducting studies on the Lake Powell Pipeline project.

KSL: Southern Nevada water director: comments weren’t meant personally – The director of the Southern Nevada Water Authority says her comments about Salt Lake City were not meant as an attack against the citizens of Utah.  Earlier this week, Pat Mulroy told television station KCVB in Las Vegas, “They can’t spell conservation in Salt Lake City.”

Deseret News: Bountiful arsenic finding spurs water study – Bountiful city officials are funding a groundwater study after tests of water from a well near a community landfill found increased levels of arsenic.