Time to BOYCOTT VEGAS for their immoral, irresponsible water grab.

[kestrel91316]

Las Vegas, the world's most UNsustainable city, is trying to steal the water out from under America's last lonely place, the Snake Valley and Snake Range (where Great Basin National Park is located).

To provide ever more water for the golf courses and fountains and hotels and casinos of Vegas, the Southern Nevada Water Authority is proceeding with plans to drain the aquifer under Spring Valley and Snake Valley in central Nevada near and along the Utah border. In their latest sneaky move, they have DOUBLED the amount of water they plan to take from under the Snake Valley.

This shortsighted and ill-conceived water heist will wreak environmental havoc, potentially creating another Owens Valley and destroying the livelihoods of nearly everyone in this admittedly sparsely populated area.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_6835948

The idiots in Vegas, always greedy and getting more so with every passing year, are insisting on fueling growth in their white elephant of an urban area. They don't care how many ecosystems they destroy and how many families they bankrupt, no do they care whether one of our most fragile national parks is dried out and turned into Mojave-like desert.

IMHO there is only one way to stop these lunatics: stop the growth potential of Vegas. Let it go the way of the dodo bird. SPEND YOUR VACATION DOLLARS ELSEWHERE. And spread the word far and wide.

More background on this ecological and societal catastrophe in the making:

http://www.citizensedproject.org/demand_pr.html
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=1723474
http://kued.org/productions/desertwars/interviews.php
Dean Baker, interviewed in the above linked article, is the son of Freddy Baker, who along with Joe Eldridge and my grandfather and great-grandfather and Wayne Gonder and others were ranchers in the Snake Valley. I knew Freddy Baker and Joe Eldridge. My uncle warned me 20 years ago about this coming tragedy, and all these folks are surely turning in their graves to see their home facing the prospect of rape and pillage.

Can we enlist the help of anybody in the DU Activist Corps to spread the word, or start a pressure campaign on federal and state legislators? Harry Reid, of all people, is pushing for this and it sickens me. Of course Senator John Ensign, being a rich casino brat, is fully behind it, too - dollar signs are his only concern, and the dollars that come from tourism to anyplace other than Vegas are of no interest to him.

[spag68]

1. Why is any one surprised at this any more?

Greed is good and those casinos are a prime example.

[kestrel91316]

3. I'm not surprised. But I AM asking for help in getting the word out

that this sort of approach to growth is NOT something we should be rewarding with our consumer dollars. Period.

Starve Vegas. Let it collapse of its own weight. DON'T give it more water. If they need more water, they should make what they have go farther. That's the attitude the RW has toward government budgets. I say hold them to their existing water budget. They can distill their own piss and drink that, for all I care. But STOP STEALING from hundreds of miles away.

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. I've boycotted that shitty place for the last 30 years,

I'd never waste a nickle on those bastards.

[kestrel91316]

4. Come to Nevada, but visit the GOOD places:

Great Basin National Park:
http://www.nps.gov/grba/

Mt. Moriah Wilderness:
http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=wildView&WID=395

Schell Creek Wilderness:
http://www.wildnevada.org/wilderness-areas/schell-creek-wilderness.html

Non-park camping areas in White Pine County, NV:
http://www.webpanda.com/white_pine_county/historical_society/attractions/camping.htm

Ruby Lake NWR:
http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=14570

Come see the Great Basin's remote heart while it's still worth a visit:
http://www.greatbasinpark.com/

Baker, NV, where 5 generations of my family have lived, is a tiny hamlet outside GBNP. I understand they have a cafe/inn run by a New York/San Francisco restauranteur now - getting pretty highfalutin' if you ask me. It's called the Silverjack Inn and Electrolux Cafe. The proprietor, Terry Marasco, has spearheaded local opposition to the SNWA water grab and deserves all the business he can get.
http://silverjackinn.com/about.html

Don't go to Vegas!

[XOKCowboy]

6. I love Ely NV!

One of the friendliest and most beautiful towns in America. I've ridden The Loneliest Highway a couple of times from Carson City to Ely and had some fun times there.

[kestrel91316]

7. I was told my grandfather was Ely's Chief of Police back in the 40s.

My dad graduated from White Pine High. I still have cousins in Ely, and would love to retire to the Snake Valley. Sigh.

[mitchtv]

11. Try Austin

what a lonely highway that is. It's been years, maybe its grown

[kestrel91316]

24. When I was a kid in the 60s we used to visit my uncle and aunt, who

lived at the state highway maintenance station on 6/50 near Baker. When we were playing out in the sagebrush and rocks we would look down toward the highway a mile or so away, and if we saw a car, the play came to a halt and we all watched to see who the heck it was. Cars were pretty few and far between then, and most vehicles belonged to locals. Strangers and tourists virtually never drove that road.

[Joe Fields]

34. The loneliest highway is my favorite road to travel on. I've made that trip

several times. It gives me the feeling that the rest of the world doesn't exist.

[AndyTiedye]

8. We Were in Nevada Last Week

[H2O Man]

13. Good post

on a good thread.

The "water wars" began many years ago, though only the victims were really aware of what was happening. Things will get much worse before they get better. The example in the OP is a good one, in my opinion, for helping people get an easily understood message across to an unsuspecting public.

[kestrel91316]

25. It's funny. My uncle, whose ranch is a highly coveted parcel right up

against GBNP, warned me many years ago about Vegas wanting to take their water, and the harm it would do. I sort of laughed and thought it was an absurd idea, that they would NEVER actually do it........

I'm almost glad he is no longer alive to see what's going to happen. He was a tough old coot (John McPhee wrote about him in Irons in the Fire) and a man of the law, and I can see him marching into John Ensign and Harry Reid's offices and raising holy hell about this......lol.

[H2O Man]

27. I can remember

when I was young, Onondaga Chief Paul Waterman telling me that water is life, and that because this was true, the time would come that clean water would be valued more than money. He said that water is the first law of life on earth, and that soon, outlaws would seek to steal other people's water.

[XOKCowboy]

5. I've been trying to boycott it for years..

I'm more of a Reno kinda guy. The problem is that I work in the entertainment industry and they keep having conventions and shows in Vegas. The reason for that is the easy access to gambling, prostitution (legal or otherwise) and golf, everything a convention goer these days wants. Nobody seems to realize that all of those golf courses, water fountains and the boundless expansion of new housing there is all dependent on a very finite amount of water.

I despise the concept of people living in Las Vegas (and Phoenix for that matter) because water is our most precious resource and we waste it in the most capricious ways. Everyone needs to read Cadillac Desert to get educated about how water in the west will become one of the most pressing issues facing the US soon.

[Bluebear]

9. *******"Republicans Fear Nevada May Slip Away"*******

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=547096

Instead of a boycott that is likely to not make a dent, how about continuing work to turn Nevada Democratic Blue and ecology GREEN?

How about working to elect progressive Democrats who will consider the earth, who will look for alternatives to wasting water, who will encourage xeriscaping and conservation?

[kestrel91316]

15. Good luck. The folks in NV with all the power consider ONLY money.

And they are likely to stay in power, by hook or by crook. Nevadans don't run Nevada. The Mob and their heirs do.

But yes, this is one more thing that we should work on.

Unfortunately, the Nevada State Engineer (the water guy) has already given the project a go. The only thing that will stop it is the demand simply isn't there.

[NMDemDist2]

10. they aren't gonna need all that water pretty soon

those suburbs will be sitting empty as the housing bubble collapses as we speak

[kestrel91316]

16. This is what I am hoping. And that the increasingly hot weather plus

higher electricity costs will make the city truly unaffordable.

From your keyboard to God's eyeballs.

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. They should astro-turf those golf courses.

[kestrel91316]

17. Indeed. Or make them ALL sand trap.

[RestoreGore]

14. I will call Harry Reid's office...

to protest this and tell him I will NEVER spend my dollars in Las Vegas Nevada again if this goes through. Owens Valley was an ecological catastrophe and if we allow this greed to continue the entire Western US will be just like it. I will also spread the word on this as much as I can. I wll post it to my water blog and I will contact state officials to voice my outrage over this latest greedy water grab. With the effects of climate change now threatening the Western U.S. with more drought and fire which wikl cause more water shortages, this is not only ill conceived it is downright immoral. Thank you for posting this. Good to see more threads about water getting on the rec list where more people will see them. This will be a primary challenge for us in the years to come.

Recommended.

[kestrel91316]

19. Thank you.

Here is some of what is at stake:
http://images.google.com/images?q=great+basin+park&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi

And more:
http://www.terragalleria.com/pictures-subjects/sagebrush/picture.sagebrush.grba5406.html

Flora and fauna of the park:
http://www.nps.gov/grba/naturescience/index.htm

[Colorado Progressive]

18. I've boycotted this cesspool of filth since I was 18.

I think what Stephen King does with it in "The Stand" is exactly what it deserves. And no, they dont deserve anybody else's water. Just a dumb place to put a city, pure and simple.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[kestrel91316]

21. I had no say in Mulholland's water grabs; I wasn't born yet.

Los Angeles doesn't take any water from NV technically. The Colorado River isn't any more "yours" than it is ours. Or any less. And Los Angeles isn't the one trying to steal the aquifer under White Pine County.

Los Angeles hasn't "taken" water from Nevada. If you understand anything about water rights IN NEVADA, you know that the person who used it first has first claim. Vegas is a Johnny-come-lately, and they DON'T NEED TO GROW ANY MORE. Furthermore, you know nothing whatsoever about my personal lifestyle and how very little in the way of water and other natural resources I personally use. So your VERY PERSONAL and profane attack is unwarranted.

The subject, of course, is the pending grab by VEGAS which will destroy one of this country's most beautiful regions, and one which, as a ranting and raving Vegasite, you clearly do not value. As a native Nevadan,and daughter of a 4th generation Snake Valley resident, I do. The ecosystems of Spring Valley and Snake Valley have FIRST CLAIM on the water, and next come the ranchers and others who have lived there for up to 150 years (my great-grandfather settled there in 1873).

Just say no to further expanses of McMansions, and you won't NEED to steal the water out from under Great Basin National Park and in so doing, destroy it. Give up the goddamned golf courses and fountains. Mandate use of reclaimed and re-reclaimed water for toilet flushing in all commercial (read: casino) construction. Charge ten (or a hundred) times as much for water/sewer hookups.

Oh, here's a hankie to wipe all that spittle off your face from your frothy tirade......

[kestrel91316]

22. If your water use had declined by 50%, why do you need to steal

it from elsewhere?

Maybe all the GHG generated by your city (what did you say the Vegas pe capita carbon footprint was??) has adversely affected precipitation in the Colorado River drainage?? Shouldn't you be taking this as a signal to SLOW THE GROWTH????

Please DO wipe all that spittle off your face. It's quite unattractive.

[depakid]

23. Vegas has dug its own grave

It's not sustainable even with its current population and its service economy along with its housing market will go into a prolonged retraction as energy prices rise.

[TahitiNut]

26. What? Don't people have an inalienable right to grow lawns in the desert?

What would the world do without swimming pools, golf courses, and decorative fountains in the desert?

[kestrel91316]

30. I won't begrudge desert dwellers a few swimming pools (they

help decrease the need for AC, lol). But the golf courses and fountains are beyond the pale.

[BlooInBloo]

28. Can't let Moe Green's city die!

[XOKCowboy]

32. It ain't Moe's anymore, it's Steve Wynn's - who IMO is much worse

Wynn has the money, the connections and the greed to do whatever it takes to keep his money tree growing.

[riverdeep]

29. Hey, I've been boycotting for years and didn't even know it.

To me, Vegas has always represented the absolute worst of America, the brazen excess, the desire to get something for nothing, screw you as long as I get mine, I'll be happy when I'm rich, the fake everything etc. Modern hipsters have built an aura around Vegas, as the place to be. I think it is if you want to get really depressed.

[Catshrink]

31. The city doesn't recycle either...

I learned that when I visited my sister -- they threw away so much stuff that could have been recycled. What a waste!

[XOKCowboy]

33. Remember The Owens Valley in Eastern CA

It used to be green. It used to have orchards. Mulholland took the water for LA and now it's a desert.

Denver and it's suburbs are trying the same water grab in Eastern CO. One of the most fertile growing regions in the country and we're going to dry it up so people in Highlands Ranch can water their bluegrass lawns. Already those closer to the mountains are having to dig their wells deeper as the little aquifer in our area gets sucked dry.

My dad (a true man of the land) warned me about this a long time ago. He hated golf courses. :)

F*** Las Vegas. Use what ya got and live with it. You're in a f****** desert for pete's sake.