LETTER: Will snails block lithium mine in Nevada?

Concern about the pyrg snail in a number of springs around the Thacker Pass mining project is questionable (Sunday Review-Journal). The mining company reportedly has obtained water rights from two ranches at Orovada that raise alfalfa. Alfalfa requires a lot of water during the growing season. If they haven’t lowered the water table in mid-summer, why would a lithium processing facility using that same amount of water spread over 12 months lower the water table?

A recent study conducted by emeritus professor Scott A. Mensing of UNR found that, approximately 3,000 years ago, there was the beginning of a total drought lasting almost 1,200 years. After about 200 years, there was a 300-year drought. The study determined there was no mud or organic matter deposited in several marshes that exist across Nevada. The climate was even cooler then.

Now we are in a 20-year drought and the climate is setting record high temperatures and should continue to get hotter as we add more CO₂ to the atmosphere. Is this the beginning of an extended drought of 30 or 40 or hundreds of years? If we experience 10 years or more of total drought, what will happen to the springs where these tiny snails are found? We must quit adding CO₂ to the atmosphere as soon as we can or we may find out.

Lithium is an essential mineral in the effort to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide. Getting it from China is not the answer. We must mine it, and that happens only where lithium deposits are found in abundance. Nevada is blessed with at least two large lithium deposits that can contribute significantly to helping clean up the atmosphere. Let’s do it.