Opening day notes
Posted on | September 26, 2011 | 5 Comments
From left to right: Las Vegas water authority witnesses Kay Brothers, John Entsminger and Richard Holmes were sworn in on Monday, September 26th at the Carson City hearings being held by the State Engineer of Nevada to determine whether and in what quantity to permit groundwater pumping for a Las Vegas pipeline.
Pat Mulroy seemed haggard and uncharacteristically subdued as hearings commenced today in Carson City over whether to allow Las Vegas to pump groundwater from four rural valleys to support more casinos and houses in Southern Nevada. Yet, as she took more than half a day’s questioning, the performance today by Southern Nevada Water Authority’s controversial general manager built into one of her best. She all but annihilated suggestions by opponents that increased conservation, water trades from California or desalination were magic bullets that would obviate the need for rural groundwater to keep Las Vegas in business. Anyone who doubts her mastery of Colorado River politics should seek out copies of today’s testimony.
As good a speaker as Mulroy can be, and today she was great, she was also aided and abetted by the rules of engagement. Carson City civility and debatable definitions of “beneficial use” of water prevented the asking of the most obvious question: Who in their right mind would support destroying some of the most beautiful valleys in the west — most of them federal public land — to support unchecked expansion of what amounts to an urban hybrid of Disneyland and Gomorrah?
The other elephant in the hearing room, or in this case, the dolphinarium in the Mojave, remains the absurdity of pursuing growth in a metropolis located in what is already a desert and is expected to become even hotter and drier with climate change.
Gains from Mulroy’s performance were drastically undermined late in the day when a SNWA attorney tried to certify Kay Brothers, Mulroy’s former deputy, as “an expert for hydrological modeling for water planning purposes.” Three years ago, it was revealed that Brothers and the attorney were among an inner circle of pipeline architects who attempted to suppress models by real hydrologists showing the devastating impact that the proposed pipeline would have on the target valleys. The hearings officer declined to certify Ms Brothers as an expert on modeling.
Vegas water hearings
Posted on | September 25, 2011 | No Comments
Omnibus hearings before the State Engineer of Nevada that will decide the fate of Las Vegas’s bid to tap the groundwater of four valleys in the Great Basin begin Monday, September 26th in Carson City. If you can’t be there, you can still see there. Click here for webcasts and here for a schedule of witnesses, beginning with the Southern Nevada Water Authority, then following with representatives from ranches, Utah’s Millard County, the Great Basin Water Network, the Long Now Foundation, the Church of Latter Day Saints and the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute. Expect to hear the Southern Nevada Water Authority argue that it needs rural water to keep Las Vegas the economic motor of Nevada, and protestants to dwell on the devastation that broad-scale groundwater pumping would bring the Great Basin. The hearings were ordered after previous awards for Las Vegas from Cave, Dry Lake, Delamar and Spring (above) valleys were voided on grounds that protestants were denied due process and a previous state engineer had not competently assessed native reserves of groundwater.
Tags: Emily Green > Great Basin Water Network > hearings > Southern Nevada Water Authority
The Dry Garden: Fall planting season
Posted on | September 23, 2011 | No Comments
The question comes every spring as our state flower, Eschscholzia californica, blooms. “Is it too late to plant poppies?” The answer is no, it’s not too late. It’s perfectly late. Whether sowing wildflowers, or planting perennials and woody herbs and shrubs, or putting natives into the ground, the best time to plant here is in late fall or early winter. The idea is to do what the plants do naturally: Get seed in the ground in advance of the coming rainy season.
Click here to keep reading this week’s installment of The Dry Garden in the Los Angeles Times
Green season
Posted on | September 16, 2011 | 2 Comments
If you’ve ever wondered when to plant lettuce, watch for dandelions. Every spring and autumn, these urban wildflowers signal the start of temperate periods when the region has warmed up or cooled down to the point that it’s salad season.
Click here to keep reading this week’s dry garden column in the Los Angeles Times.
Slide show at the Arboretum
Posted on | September 14, 2011 | 1 Comment
Tomorrow, Thursday September 15th, I will be presenting a slide show in “Garden Talks with Lili Singer” at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in Arcadia. The subject: A year in a new garden, during which 9,000 square feet of lawn was removed to make way for a mixed native and food garden. The presentation will be followed by a field trip to the garden. Click here for details.
Tags: chance of rain > Emily Green > Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden > Native Gardening
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