Nev. Farmers Fighting Water Plan

Construction workers build a luxury home at the construction site of Toll Brothers in Henderson, Nev., in this file photo made on Tuesday, May 22, 2007. The Southern Nevada Water Authority wants to draw more than 11.3 billion gallons of groundwater a year from from the Delamar, Dry Lake, Cave valleys and all in central Lincoln County. That amount of water, expanded through reuse and other means, could supply more than 100,000 homes in the fast-growing Las Vegas area. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) (Jae C. Hong - AP)

CARSON CITY, Nev. -- Roderick McKenzie and other central Nevada farmers fear booming Las Vegas is going to suck their farmland dry.

They are fighting a plan to pump billions of gallons of water south across the desert for use in the fast-growing Las Vegas area, saying it would eat up groundwater supplies and spell the end for ranchers and farmers in rural valleys.

"It's not a smart thing to let the state engineer go into a valley and take water that's probably going somewhere else," McKenzie said. "Once the water table starts to drop it will continue to drop."

The Southern Nevada Water Authority wants to draw more than 11.3 billion gallons of groundwater a year from the Delamar, Dry Lake and Cave valleys, all in central Lincoln County and along the route of a proposed water pipeline that will stretch 250 miles across the state like a giant straw.

That amount of water, expanded through reuse and other means, could supply more than 100,000 homes in the fast-growing Las Vegas area, authorities say.

But McKenzie, who heads Lund Irrigation & Water Co., said water under nearby Cave Valley can be linked to subsurface water in the Lund area and a big drawdown in one area could hurt the other.

He is worried because ranchers in his company run cattle in Cave Valley in the summer and fall and depend on the springs.

"That's the whole basis of our protest," he said. "It's not knowing where the water is coming from in the first place, and not knowing where it's going."

The state's share of the Colorado River cannot sustain continued growth around Las Vegas, home to about three of every four Nevada residents. Drought has placed a greater strain on the river's supply.

After initially opposing it, Lincoln County has agreed to go along with the water authority plan, which is part of a $2 billion water pipeline project to tap into water around Nevada. The agreement states which groundwater basins in the county can be developed.

"This is very important because it's a critical part of our overall groundwater project," said water authority spokesman J.C. Davis.

Davis said Lincoln County's support will help during the state engineer's hearings on the plan. A prehearing conference has been set for Aug. 28 by the state engineer and the water authority has asked for Jan. 14-18 hearings.