Print View From: "Strech, Maxine (Cont)" To: "'snakevalley@utah.gov'" Date: Wednesday - September 30, 2009 9:56 AM Subject: PLEASE DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN I had heard some about the contriversy about Las Vegas wanting the water and did not like what I was hearing but was not move to speak out however that has changed. Two weeks ago our family traveled from Tooele Utah to Baker Nevada to visit Lehman Caves. The caves are spectacular! Has any one studied what effect the lowering of the water table might do to the cave if Las Vegas get the water? During the trip I began to realize how big the Snake Valley is ! I also realized how little above ground water there is. No matter how much water the area might be sitting on I do not feel that it can be enough to keep the farms and ranches going and Las Vegas too. If I were a gambler I would not bet on the farms and ranches surviving. American can little afford the loss of more "little" ranches and farmers. America needs the product from these ranches and farms to help us stay less dependant on other countries, just as surely as we need our own supply of oil and gas rather than be increasingly dependant on other countries. The farms and ranches in these areas are productive and have conserved their precious water for a hundred years ensuring their life style. These ranchers and farmers understand how precious water is. They understand what less water means to them and the land. If they loose the water we all loose. Once farm land looses water it dries up and blows away. There goes our air quality along with the food. It would take years to bring the soil back to life and productivity if water became unavailable. We can see a good example of this when we look at the agreements that were made with California on the Colorado River project. California is guaranteed a certain amount of water every year. No matter how much water is or is not available California gets the set amount. On our frequent trips to California to see family we do not see dry-scaped front yards but nice green lawns. Only this year has California started enforcing fines for over watering. California orchards have been allowed to go dormant because they don't have water but the residential lawns are green. Their priorities are not in the right places. Where are our priorities if we choose Las Vegas growth over farms and ranches? Las Vegas is working on reclaiming their waste water but they need to limit their growth until they can support the city's growth with the water they already have. Whether the water is on the Nevada or Utah side of the Snake Valley it is more precious to the farmers and ranchers that have shown that they know how to conserve the water and put it to the best use than to Las Vegas. Once Utah signs over any of the rights to the water in Snake Valley it is gone. Utah is getting dryer! If this water is taken away and used up there won't be more to replenish what is taken to Las Vegas. The water for Las Vegas will have to be given first and if there is nothing left because of a lowering water table then the farmers and ranchers are out of luck. There will not be renegotiations, just like California now gets their water from the Colorado River first. Utah and Nevada are making decisions on this water that will affect our food supply, our air quality, and life styles for future generations. I do not feel that Utah and Nevada farmers and ranchers should loose their water. What make Las Vegas growth more important that the little farmer and rancher? If they can grow crops because of lack of water their land will be worth nothing. They loose the income and their land. Will Las Vegas buy the ranchers and farmers worthless land when they can't grown anything? That water should be kept where it is as a supply for the current farmers and ranchers that know how to conserve and use it wisely. This should be a reserve for the future, it is water in the bank so to speak. This should be a no brainer. Vote NO!