Letters to the Editor of the Pahrump Valley Times

Reader maintains Cliven Bundy didn’t get a fair shake

I’m just a nobody from Georgia but I could find more truth in a five-minute Google search than Steve Sebelius did in whatever time it took him to come up with that hit piece on Cliven Bundy.

I’m not a fan of armed insurrection of anybody, but he was getting screwed by the BLM and deserved to be listened to just like the ones calling for police reforms now.

T.B. Willingham

Nevada not getting share of Colorado River water

Nevada should challenge the Lake Powell Pipeline (LPP) because it would promote Utah’s wasting of precious Colorado River water when deliveries to Nevada are being cut back.

Nevada heavily relies on Colorado River water and it received the smallest allocation under the 1922 Colorado River Compact. Due to climate change and the megadrought, some deliveries have already been reduced and caused economic hardship. Unfortunately, despite this harsh reality, Utah politicians and the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) are pushing to approve the controversial LPP before President Trump may leave office in January. BOR recently released a biased environmental study that fails to analyze any water conservation alternatives.

Washington County Utah, where I live, would receive the LPP water. It uses an average of 302 gallons per capita day. In contrast, the national average is 138. The county refuses to implement reasonable water conservation measures that have been successful elsewhere.

The LPP may violate the Colorado River Compact by transferring upper basin water for a lower basin use. Congressional approval is normally needed for such a transfer, but Utah is not seeking it. LPP construction would harm public lands, scenic vistas, and wildlife such as threatened Mojave desert tortoises.

During this pandemic economy, with high-priority public needs short on funding, this three-billion-dollar LPP boondoggle should not proceed without congressional approval and a fair analysis of alternatives that are likely to be cheaper and less environmentally destructive.

Sincerely,

Richard Spotts

St. George, Utah