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      From: Joan Welsh <jwelsh425@yahoo.com> 
      To: <snakevalley@utah.gov> 
      Date: Wednesday - September 30, 2009 3:10 PM 
      Subject: Snake Valley Water Draft Agreement 




      The agreement to allocate this water is a mistake that will have long  
      range and lasting consequences for the farmers and ecosystems of the  
      Great Basin, not including the air quality of the cities to the east.

      Las Vegas is such a starkly dry location, where even the few sagebrush  
      struggle to exist, that much of this precious water will simply  
      evaporate from the hundreds of swimming pools, the golf  courses and  
      decorative lawns and yards. Once the pumping starts down that billion  
      dollar pipeline, it will be virtually impossible to shut it off. Sure,  
      the agreement says it will be shut off if it proves to be damaging the  
      Snake Valley, but everyone knows that the court cases and litigation  
      will go on indefinitely until that aquifer is dry.

      Unlike the Mono Lake near catastrophe, when in 1941 Las Angeles  
      diverted the streams 350 miles south for their thirsty voters, the  
      damage that pumping will do to the Snake Valley aquifer will not be as  
      evident as was Mono Lake, until the damage is irrecoverable. As that  
      lake was gradually drained, the wildlife was severely affected and  
      toxic dust storms occurred. And just how long a time can the aquifer  
      continue to water Las Vegas, then where will they get the water.

      The lesson learned from Mono Lake was Las Angeles had to learn to live  
      within limits. Las Vegas must realize it sits in a rock dry spot and  
      should learn how to conserve and reuse its water rather than take it  
      from others.

      Please don't go ahead with the agreement, let this thing rest.

      Sincerely, Byron and Joan Welsh, Salt Lake City, Utah