A wind energy farm has desecrated sacred sites and damaged the environment in Ocotillo Valley. Also, it's dubious if any alternative energy generated has offset the fossil fuel required to build and maintain the project. The 2013 film Greed Energy documents resistance to the farm, which this article further explores and updates.
SNWA Whistleblower Shows Ratepayers Bilked for Spring Valley Ranches (tags)
The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) has used rate hikes and government subsidies to purchase ranches at six times above market value to appear as landholders for water rights for their proposed pipeline. An employee of the SNWA turned whistleblower has come forward with evidence of bribery of local officials and yearly losses of money on the SNWA ranches. In related news Sen. Mike Roberson introduced SB 232 with bipartisan support to require greater transparency by the SNWA and would require the water authority to obtain approval from the PUC before increasing water rates.
Water Theft from Aquifers Benefit Developers at Expense of Ecosystems (tags)
Water theft from rural aquifers for the short term benefit of Las Vegas developers is a crime against the ecosystems and human communities that depend upon their water for survival. The theft of the aquifer water by SNWA is a sequel of the Owens Valley water grab by LADWP nearly a century ago. Any ELF actvists looking for training sites have over 200 miles of practice targets if this pipeline goes through. Maybe someone should send LADWP a message that water theft can be stopped by preventing transport. When the pipeline is ruptured in numerous places this water theft will become a more costly endeavor! The LADWP and SNWA needs to stop stealing water from aquifers and desert lakes!
Spring Snails Survival Threatened by SNWA Pipeline (tags)
The spring snails of the Great Basin region are threatened by construction of the SNWA pipeline to Las Vegas. Spring snails are vital as primary consumer herbivores to reduce algae and thereby prevent eutrophication, also being the base of the trophic food web pyramid that supports trout, eagles and humans. Spring snails should be protected under ESA and are more valuable than golf courses and sprawl development north of Las Vegas.
BLM’s new “alternative” on Vegas pipe (tags)
Ever heard of the Council on Environmental Quality? Chaired by former LA Deputy Mayor Nancy Sutley, it’s a White House office that according to its website ”coordinates Federal environmental efforts.” To judge by a recent update from the Bureau of Land Management, Sutley’s office may just hold the key for a compromise in a long-running battle over rural groundwater between Utah and Nevada. Using powers supposedly afforded by the Council, the Bureau is adding a new alternative to an environmental impact statement that may allow Vegas to pump and Utah to keep its water too. The only clear loser is the environment.
No SNWA Pipeline! Let's Keep the SPRING in Spring Valley! (tags)
539 members of the Goshute tribe in western Utah are all that stand between the Southern Nevada Water Authority and a proposed multi-billion-dollar pipeline that would “pump billions of gallons of groundwater” from the Goshutes’ home in Spring Valley “to parched Las Vegas,” in a 92" wide pipe that would run for 300 miles.
Goshutes battle to save their sacred water from SNWA pipeline (tags)
Elders of the Goshute Nation and many scientists agree that removal of aquifer water from eastern Nevada with the SNWA proposed pipeline for Las Vegas suburban development will destroy the spring fed ecosystems that the goshute have depended upon for their cultural and physical survival. Preparations for spiritual and mental battle to protect sacred Goshute water are beginning.
SNWA General Manager Mulroy; A Legacy of Cultural Genocide Against the Goshute Nation (tags)
The use of propaganda to coerce transfer of indigenous populations from their homeland and cultural base is a violation of the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and could be defined as cultural genocide. Will this be the legacy of SNWA General Manager Patricia Mulroy's pipeline?
Owens Lake Reminders for SNWA Pipeline’s Water Grab from Northern Aquifers (tags)
The recent decision by the NV State Engineer to support the SNWA's proposed pipeline follows the same tactics used by San Fernando Valley developers who removed water from Owens Lake and Valley by using deception and purchasing land and favors from government officials.
NV State Engineer Rules Against Goshute Tribe and in Favor of SNWA Pipeline (tags)
The Nevada State Engineer's decision last week supports the SNWA proposed pipeline despite numerous objections from the indigenous Goshute Nation and many other scientists who warn that the finite aquifers of the Snake and Spring Valley targeted by the SNWA pipeline would not sustain this amount of extraction without causing ecosystem collapse as springs dry and species become extinct. It could be said that removal of water from the sovereign Goshute Nation by the SNWA is a form of cultural genocide.
Response 2 SNWA; NO Water Theft 4 Developers! (Part 2) (tags)
part 2
Response 2 SNWA; NO Water Theft 4 Developers! (tags)
This report is one of many public comments given throughout several locations in Nevada in opposition to the proposed SNWA 300 mile pipeline from the Snake and Spring Valley aquifer system to provide water for developers like Harvey Whittemore (Coyote Springs, U.S. 93 & NV 189), KB Homes and other developers interested in furthering the suburban sprawl outside of Las Vegas despite many homes remaining unoccupied and in foreclosure. The developers revealed their true motives as the only comments in favor of the SNWA pipeline were from homebuilders associations and other construction related industries.
Parker Jaques: Bisexual, Binary and Proud! (tags)
Parker Jaques isn't the usual sort of interviewee who gets featured in a Queer publication. That's why I wanted to interview him for the cover story in the September 2011 Zenger's Newsmagazine. He doesn't have a traumatic, breast-beating coming-out story to tell. He wasn't Queer-bashed in school because his mother encouraged him to fight back if anyone tried it. He's proud of his identity not only as a Bisexual but as a gender-identified male, and he has such withering contempt for people (like the August 2011 Zenger's cover person, Red) who call themselves "non-binary" -- neither male nor female -- that once we started discussing that subject it was hard to get him to talk about anything else. That's why I call him "Bisexual, Binary and Proud!"
Public Comment Needed on SNWA Snake Valley Pipeline to Vegas! (tags)
Another chance for members of the public to comment to the BLM and share their views on the proposed SNWA pipeline from Snake and Spring Valley aquifers to the Las Vegas region. Please request the BLM take the NO ACTION alternative and deny the pipeline access across public lands held by the BLM. We do not need any more aquifers being overdrafted for extra golf courses and suburban sprawl development (ie., Coyote Springs from Harvey Whittemore), we need flowing springs and seeps for our ecosystems!
UFCW Local 135 Union Stores Not Facing a Strike (tags)
Facing a strike at the three largest grocery chains in southern California ? Ralph's, Albertson's and Vons ? the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 135 prepared this list of stores in San Diego County which they represent and which will NOT be involved in the likely upcoming strike. Since at this time they have not posted this list on their own Web site, http://www.ufcw135.org, Mark Gabrish Conlan and Zenger's Newsmagazine are making it available as a public service. Please help support this action by reposting this list and spreading it far and wide on the Web, and hopefully this will give the union leadership the message that they need to join the 21st century and promote this list on their own Web site.
Nevada Supreme Court Rules Against SNWA Water Grab. (tags)
Recent articles discuss the ruling by Nevada Supreme Court Judge Robinson that prevents another potential water grab by the SNWA and their developer funders. Additional research reveals the intent of the SNWA pipeline from northern aquifers would benefit the developer of Coyote Springs, one Harvey Whittemore. The urban residents of Las Vegas would cover the bill of SNWA's misadventures in sheep ranching, pipeline lawsuits and other related issues for the benefit of some far out developer's scheme.
Fernando Lopez: Marriage Equality Activist Looks to the Future (tags)
San Diego marriage equality activist Fernando Lopez discusses his own relationship history, his involvement with Marriage Equality USA, the heartbreak of the Proposition 8 defeat and his own critique of the No on 8 strategy, the current Perry v. Schwarzenegger case and his outlook for the future of same-sex marriage in the U.S. A longer version of the interview published in the February-March 2010 issue of Zenger's Newsmagazine.
Rainwater Harvesting; Alternatives to SNWA Pipeline Project (tags)
Another option for Las Vegas is to outfit roofs with rainwater harvesting systems, both for collecting water and to reduce runoff that creates flash floods. This would create jobs and result in permanant solutions to increasing water supplies, unlike the SNWA's proposed pipeline from the Snake Valley aquifer that would cost billions and most likely overdraft the aquifer in less than 10 years time. Though the pipeline's promise of indefinite future supplies (real or imagined) could make some developers like Harvey Whittemore happy in the short term!!
SNWA's 300 Mile Pipeline to Las Vegas Faces Growing Opposition (tags)
At a recent SNWA board meeting, the SNWA's proposed 300 mile pipeline from Snake Valley aquifer to Las Vegas has met with a few bumps in the road, mainly strong public opposition and increasing hesitancy on the part of SNWA board members to jump into this plan without a safety net. Though the SNWA board voted to continue seeking an EIS for the pipeline, the reality of future costs and risks of an overdrawn aquifer made several board members question their previous zealotry in following Gen. Manager Pat Mulroy down her pipeline's path for much longer.
Gambling with Extinction; Snails, Dace, Chub & Trout Threatened by SNWA Pipeline to Vegas (tags)
Petition for endangered species status and a lawsuit by conservation groups to protect spring snails could delay or even stop the destructive aquifer draining pipeline to Las Vegas proposed by SNWA.
Local Residents to Protest Plans for Paramilitary Training Center in Riverside, CA (tags)
LOCAL RESIDENTS ASK: WHY WAS THIS PRIVATE PARAMILITARY FIRM APPROVED BY THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS? Protest Planned Against Procinctu Plans to Build Private Military Training Center on Tuesday, January 27 Residents Hopes to Halt Construction of "The Ranch" Inspired by Successful Battle Against Blackwater's Plans in San Diego County WHERE: Outside the Riverside County Administrative Center, at 4080 Lemon Street, Riverside CA WHEN: 8:30 to 9:30 AM, Tuesday January 27, 2009 Protest outside Riverside County Administrative Center 11:00 a.m: Protesters will move inside to express concerns to Riverside County Board of Supervisors general meeting during Oral Communication
Help Las Vegas Conserve Water! No Aquifer Drawdown! (tags)
We need your help to protect the Snake and Spring Valley aquifers from being drawn down by Las Vegas water demands. One way people can help is to encourage a diversity of water conservation measures that Las Vegas and Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) could try as alternatives to pumping and draining distant aquifers yet intact. People are given the chance to send SNWA their ideas for abstracts for an upcoming Water Innovations Conference later in '09, abstracts due by 1/30/09. Even if you cannot go there, send them your ideas for water conservation anyway!!
Snake & Spring Valley Aquifer Water Conservation (NV) (tags)
There are several reasons to avoid the proposed pipeline project diverting water from the Snake and Spring Valley aquifers to the Las Vegas region as planned by Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA). This report will provide background information as to the physical and geological characteristics of the two aquifers mentioned above, including ecological components most likely affected by potential overdraft from the SNWA pipeline.
ON UN INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST DRUG ABUSE (tags)
In coordination with the Foundation for a Drug-Free World, Dennis Martinez, 1977 World Free-Style Skateboarding Champion, presented the screening of D.O.P.E (Death or Prison Eventually…”) at two skate parks in Tampa Bay on Friday June 27th. D.O.P. E. tracks the rise, fall and redemption of four major skateboard legends including Martinez.