Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Land bill gets initial hearing

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WASHINGTON -- A top Bush administration official on Tuesday challenged legislation that maps a corridor to transport water from a rural Nevada county to thirsty Clark County, saying the government should decide where to run the pipeline.

Rebecca Watson, Interior Department assistant secretary, said utility corridors outlined in the Lincoln County Land Bill "may not be in the best interest of the protection of cultural resources, habitat and other resource areas."

The utility corridor is a key part of a complex bill authored by the Nevada congressional delegation, and it is viewed as an important element of a strategy by Southern Nevada planners to provide precious water in coming years to the Las Vegas Valley's fast-growing population.

Among other far-reaching provisions, the bill also earmarks 87,000 acres of federal land for sale in Lincoln County, designates more than 777,000 acres as wilderness, and would release 245,000 acres now protected as potential wilderness for future disposal and development.

Despite challenging key portions of the Nevada bill, Watson said, the Bush administration generally supports its goals.

In an interview after Tuesday's House Resources subcommittee hearing, where the bill was heard for the first time, Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said Watson's criticism was a minor point that can be addressed. He said he expected the bill would pass at least the House by the end of the year.

"I think that's going to be resolved," said Gibbons, vice chairman of the House Resources Committee that will consider the bill. "This was what the county and the users felt would be best."

Pat Mulroy, Southern Nevada Water Authority general manager, said she was not surprised at Watson's testimony, expecting the Interior Department would ask for more influence in designating pipeline routes.

But, Mulroy said, increased government involvement would extend the process another five years for water that Las Vegas may need by 2007.

Eight witnesses representing Lincoln and Clark counties, the Nevada Wildlife Commission and environmental groups testified before the Resources Committee's Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands.

Among them was Mulroy, who told lawmakers that Southern Nevada is dependent upon the Colorado River for 90 percent of its water. The region could be forced to cut back its share of surplus water from the river as early as 2005 if drought continues, she said.

"Establishing utility corridors at this stage is critical to ensuring that the Southern Nevada Water Authority can pursue the development of groundwater resources upon which its future planning decisions depend," Mulroy said.

Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., said a rural pipeline could help Southern Nevada develop a long-term, reliable water supply to meet its booming population.

"The growth, while positive, has placed pressure on infrastructure," Porter said.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., noted that Las Vegas would be less dependent on Colorado River water if the Water Authority were given the means to import groundwater from Lincoln County.

But a critic of the pipeline, Ellen Pillard, chairwoman of the Toiyabe Chapter of the Sierra Club, told the subcommittee that mapping a corridor in legislation would be premature without studies to assure environmental preservation.

Lincoln County Commissioner Ronda Hornbeck, who supported the bill for its provisions expanding his county's land base, seconded the request for more water studies. All but 2 percent of Lincoln County is government owned, so it cannot be developed or taxed.

Mulroy displayed a map of hundreds of water monitoring wells scattered through Lincoln County that she contends can supply the Las Vegas Valley with up to 200,000 acre-feet of water a year. One acre-foot of water meets the needs of an average Las Vegas Valley family of five for a year.

She also disputed claims by environmental groups that a pipeline project would turn rural Nevada into an Owens Valley, the central California farming region that Los Angeles started getting water from in the early 1900s.

"The times where you go in and drill a well and pump your heart out are over," Mulroy said. "That cannot happen anymore."

Watson also questioned whether the bill should exempt Clark County and Lincoln County from user fees normally charged for running pipelines on federal land.

On another part of the utility corridor, Interior Department spokesman David Quick said the Bush administration still is studying a provision that would move a federal right of way from the proposed Coyote Springs development to the Desert National Wildlife Refuge.

The realignment of the corridor would consolidate utility corridors to the east side of U.S. Highway 93 and free up more land for Coyote Springs, which is being developed by lobbyist Harvey Whittemore.

Nevada lawmakers hailed the bill as a legislative compromise reached through two years of meetings across Lincoln County.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., Ensign and Porter testified in support of the bill Tuesday. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Las Vegas, who is a bill sponsor, was meeting with the Dutch ambassador, according her spokesman.

Lincoln County commissioners initially had sought 25 million acres of private land, environmental groups proposed 2.5 million acres of wilderness protection, ranchers and off-highway vehicle users argued for continued road access.

The bill designates 14 wilderness study areas, giving them permanent protection from development. That provision drew the ire of House Resources Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., who criticized the bill for having too much wilderness even though the legislation releases about 245,000 acres to potential development.

"I have a problem with including areas that don't fit within the definition of wilderness," Pombo said. "How do we justify including areas that include power lines and railroads as wilderness?"

Specifically, Pombo questioned whether Big Rock and Mount Irish should be designated wilderness, given that neither area has been recommended by the Bureau of Land Management for such protection.

Meanwhile, Brain O'Donnell of the Nevada Wilderness Coalition criticized the bill for failing to protect enough wilderness. He called for the subcommittee to add the Pahranagat Range, which is near the proposed Coyote Springs development.

Reid asked that Pombo take into consideration "the tough sledding" that was done to reach a compromise. Gibbons added that wilderness areas would also serve as habitat for the threatened desert tortoise.

Pombo appeared unwilling to back down, saying that wilderness designations should not come about because of a deal struck among competing interests. He suggested the committee preserve those areas through some other conservation agreement.

Gibbons said afterward that he was confident the California congressman would be persuaded to change his view.

On the issue of private land sales, the Interior Department criticized a formula to divide the revenues from BLM land sales around communities scattered throughout Lincoln County.

Watson said the bill should earmark 85 percent of the revenue to BLM to pay for the cost of appraising and auctioning the land.

The Lincoln County land is projected to sell for up to $500 an acre, significantly less than the average $200,000 fetched for public land sales in Clark County, Watson said. Because land is expected to sell for much less in Lincoln County, Interior officials are worried the BLM will spend more in selling the land than it is worth.