WATER WATER EVERYWHERE . . . ?

By Albert Hartman
wespan@earthlink.net

THE OUT OF STATE DEVELOPERS ARE TRYING TO
DOWNPLAY THE IMPORTANCE OF WATER FOR THEIR PROJECT. THEY HIRED A SO-CALLED HYDROLOGIST, AND SAID THERE WERE THREE POSSIBILITIES TO SUPPLY THEIR PLANNED DEVELOPMENT WITH WATER.

-A-

AFTER BUYING WATER RIGHTS SOMEWHERE
ELSE, THEY WOULD DRILL 3 OR 4 WELLS EACH
1450 FEET DEEP. The wells in the surrounding area are between 500 and 800 feet deep. Some two years ago Nevada DOT drilled a temporary well in the immediate area of the planned development for construction of HWY 160 towards Pahrump.

RESULT: some wells in this neighborhood dried out, others needed new pumps and motors, as they were pumping sand and mud, instead of water ...

CONCLUSION: One may purchase all the water rights of Hawaii and Alaska combined, but this part of the Desert just does not
produce the required amounts of water.

-B-

THE APPLICANTS STATED AS AN ALTERNATIVE,
THEY JUST WOULD GET THE WATER FROM
FUTURE PIPELINE OF "RHODES-RANCH"
This sounded like going to a Supermarket to buy A case of
bottled water. The fact is that this option would delay their project by 6 to 10 years. Vegas Valley Water District is not planning to bring Public Water "out here" for 6 to 10 years. The applicants want their Zone Change NOW and not in 6 to 10 years, but they are not shying away from any MAKE BELIEVE STORY

- C -

HERE IS THEIR THIRD "OPTION":
[BELOW THE JAMES HARDIE GYPSUM MINE THERE! IS AN
ABANDONED WELL aka "HUMANE SOCIETY WELL", NOW OWNED BY VEGAS VALLEY WATER DISTRICT ] THE APPLICANT STATED THEY WOULD DRILL A LITTLE DEEPER IN THAT WELL AND THAT WOULD SOLVE ALL WATER PROBLEMS.

The fact is that V.V.Water District must protect the waterflow for
the Gypsum Mine and above all for the town of Blue Diamond.
Blue Diamond is served by V.V. Water District.

The waters for Gypsum Mine and Blue Diamond both come from a
source within a quarter mile of the "Humane Society" well.
On June 13, 1997 the Water District started monitoring the abandoned well and the well of property next to the planned RV-Site. The hydrologists and water engineers stated it takes 12 months or more for good monitoring results.

THE OUTCOME:

After the presentation of the 3 above options on June 5, 97
some planning commissioners - especially Fiero -were so
impressed that they did NOT CONSIDER WATER TO BE AN ISSUE. Finally they were handed a recommendation letter of
BLM's Dave Wolf. This letter made 4 of the 5 "planning" commissioners decide in favor of the applicant.

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