Las Vegas NowI-Team: Goshute Tribe Opposes Water Pumping

I-Team: Goshute Tribe Opposes Water Pumping

A Nevada Indian tribe intends to fight the water authority's plan to pipe water from rural Nevada to the Las Vegas valley.

The Goshute Tribe served notice that it intends to file a federal lawsuit against the water authority in 60 days. They say the water authority has initiated a reckless assault on the environment.

The Goshutes have had a tough time, for a long time and they seem to be saying, enough is enough.

This week, tribal leaders warned SNWA that a lawsuit is coming -- one that alleges the water authority has already violated the Federal Clean Water Act by contaminating a fragile spring area.

But this is just the first of many legal salvos aimed at stopping the proposed multi-billion dollar water grab in rural Nevada.

"Water is sacred to our people out here, and I don't think we would ever dream of selling our water to anybody," said Christene Steele of the Goshute Tribe.

Steele and the other 500 or so members of the Goshute Tribe aren't going to be asked to sell their water. They're pretty sure it will be taken, whether they like it or not, just as so much else has been taken from the tribe over the last 200 years.

About 100 Goshutes eke out a living on their only remaining chunk of land -- in a harsh and remote piece of desert straddling the Nevada-Utah state line.

Most are farmers or ranchers who've had to reach a delicate balance with nature to stay alive, especially regarding scarce water.

"Being very delicate out here in this arid region, it is best not to use a lot and to be cautious and conserve what you have," said Milton Hooper.

But the Goshute's see their future being taken out of their hands.

Last year, the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, along with other agencies, dropped their opposition to a proposed multi billion dollar water grab planned by Southern Nevada Water Authority.

The system of pumps and pipes will suck billions of gallons of groundwater out of rural valleys, including the land under the reservation.

BIA did not bother to consult with the tribe before withdrawing, and when the state engineer authorized SNWA to proceed with its water plans, the tribe was again excluded from the hearings because the state does not consider the Goshutes to be an interested party under the law.

Environmentalists and many scientists believe that taking huge amounts of water from under this parched land will drop the water table precipitously, and kill everything.

"What does that mean? The vegetation dies -- and not just in Snake Valley. If you look at the impact, we're looking at tens of thousands of square miles that are going to be affected. Once the vegetation of Nevada is gone, the animals are affected as well," said Launce Rake with the Progressive Leadership Alliance.

The tribe, along with Great Basin Water Network and Trout Unlimited, has informed SNWA that a federal lawsuit is coming in 60 days. The suit will allege water officials have already contaminated a once pristine fish breeding ground with callous disregard for the consequences.

Two counties in Utah have filed their own protests with Nevada because they were excluded from the process as well.

The Goshutes think that their lives will be sacrificed so that Las Vegas can continue to grow.

"When it's gone, it's gone, and we don't have nothing," said Clelle Pete with the Goshute Tribal Council.

"If that water was taken from us, there are people who have places to go. We don't have any place to run to. This is our land," said Steele.

As mentioned, this is the first of what could be many legal actions filed against the proposed pipeline.

Environmentalists allege that SNWA has sidestepped laws designed to prevent the kind of widespread damage that they allege would be inevitable if you take that much water out of an already-parched area.

SNWA has always denied there would be harsh consequences from the water grab, adding that the only way to know for sure is to start pumping.

Email your comments to Chief Investigative Reporter George Knapp