Curiouser and curiouser:
Furthermore, it might be coincidental that the problems with the Bundy cattle ranching began in 1993, the same year Patricia Mulroy began serving as general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority. From 1989, Ms. Mulroy was also the general manager of the Las Vegas Valley Water District. The author attempted to contact Ms. Mulroy for a comment but she retired from both positions a few months ago in February.
It’s also possible the drought in the western states could have been the catalyst to the desperate actions by the Federal authorities surrounding the Bundy cattle operation. Currently, water rights in Nevada run anywhere from $7,000 to $50,000 per acre foot (depending on the time of year and the amount of rainfall or snowfall in the western region). The water in Nevada is then auctioned, as it has been for at least twenty-five years. That same water can be resold in Las Vegas, Arizona, or Southern California.
Bunkerville in Nevada is ensconced between the Virgin River and the main road, Riverside Road. The Virgin River is a tributary to Lake Mead. The river, along with other sources, discharges into Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States. Both the Virgin River and Lake Mead are part of the Colorado River Basin. In fact, Lake Mead is considered to be the largest surface water collection for the Colorado River. Whoever controls the water controls the vast wealth that is distributed to a network of states at a crucial time during a water shortage.
Add to that, so much of what ends up in Lake Mead ends up evaporating (the main problem with these manmade desert “lakes”).
Add to that the desert (straw man) tortoise fares better on grazed land.
When I was in college last there was a book that haunted me. So much so it still comes to mind when I hear about all these new water grabs by the government. The text has chapters on historic and recent case studies. Whoever controls the water controls everything - everything.
I had to go to Amazon to find the name again. And there the description on the book should make anyone take notice:
“The fluidity of transboundary waters perfectly represents contemporary challenges to modern governance. This book offers conceptual and empirical support for the idea that the human relationship with water must move beyond rationalist definitions of water as product, property, and commodity. “
That alone tells you everything about it.
If interested, this is it: Reflections on Water: New Approaches to Transboundary Conflicts and Cooperation (American and Comparative Environmental Policy) -by Joachim Blatter (Editor), Helen Ingram (Editor)
This was the lone text book for a full semester in a graduate school on public administration. So a lot of time was spent on this. Probably meant to ‘nudge’ our minds to globalization of government. Especially since a reoccurring theme in many classes was about the need for ‘efficiency of services’ by merging of governments.