Nevada water could land in U.S. Supreme Court

Las Vegas isn’t nearly done with Snake Valley — or its water.

The issue of whether groundwater in the arid Snake Valley that straddles the Utah-Nevada line can be pumped and piped to Las Vegas could land before the U.S. Supreme Court.

In an email to Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) board members last week, General Manager Pat Mulroy said the agency should consider a lawsuit to the nation’s top court for Utah’s failure to sign a negotiated settlement that would grant Nevada some 50,000 acre-feet per year of Snake Valley water.

Mulroy’s communication, dated Aug. 2, came as the federal Bureau of Land Management released a final Environmental Impact Statement that makes it appear likely it will grant rights of way across four Nevada valleys. That would allow SNWA to move forward with its $15.5 billion project to pump desert groundwater for transport to Las Vegas.