How did it get to be September? The swift passage of time falls in the category of "things my mother told me that I didn't believe." Mom foretold that time would speed as I got older, but, as a teenager home for the entire summer with World War II-vintage parents, it was impossible to understand.
However, here in Baker, Nev., near the edge of the Utah state line, time has stood still since Oct. 17, 1989, 20 years ago. Right after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Las Vegas Valley Water District (now Southern Nevada Water Authority) filed on all the "unappropriated" water in the Snake Valley, effectively stopping development. It's the longest running game of freeze tag in Nevada's history.
The latest chapter in the Water Grab saga is that after four years of negotiations in secret, Nevada and Utah have issued a draft agreement to divide the groundwater under Snake Valley, which is in both states. The agreement, required by the federal Lincoln County Lands Act, is viewed by many as a precursor to Las Vegas' march north to conquer the groundwater of the rural counties.
The draft agreement also delays hearings by Nevada's state engineer on the 20-year-old applications until 2019. Freeze tag would continue as another generation of Snake Valley residents will become parents and grandparents and memories.
It would postpone the pipeline and allow time for more studies to see how injurious the annual pumping of 16 billion gallons would be to plants, people, and prosperity of the Snake Valley, home to Nevada's only national park.
People who live in the Snake Valley understand its ecology and believe that there is no extra water. The system is in equilibrium. Drain the groundwater: Surface plants will die and dust storms will flourish. The costly and destructive example of California's Owens Valley is the likely future for Snake Valley if Southern Nevada Water Authority and its partners build and fill an 84-inch diameter water pipeline.
To be sure, Las Vegas needs water. Depending on whom you believe, it is either to compensate for drought or enable future growth. Conservation has begun to show results, but residents have yet to take conservation as seriously as other southwest cities such as Albuquerque. Southern Nevada grew without control while Snake Valley was on hold.
What's the rush? "The states acknowledge that such information is insufficient to determine with precision the available groundwater supply," says the agreement.
Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons and Utah Gov. Gary Herbert should host public hearings on the draft agreement but wait for the results of ongoing water studies before dividing the uncertain groundwater under the Snake Valley.
• Abby Johnson is a resident of Carson City, and a part-time resident of Baker, Nevada. She consults on community development and nuclear waste issues. Her opinions are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of her clients.