ELY, Nev. (AP) — A decade-long legal battle over a plan to pump groundwater from eastern Nevada to Las Vegas resumed this week with lawyers on both sides arguing over differing parts of a former state engineer’s decision to block the plan.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports a judge isn’t expected to rule for months after hearing arguments Tuesday and Wednesday in state district court in Ely.
The pipeline would start in four rural valleys in White Pine and Lincoln counties near the Utah line.
Opponents include environmentalists, tribes, ranchers, two Utah counties and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They say it could cause wells in the area to dry up.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority backing the project says denying the necessary permits would establish a bad precedent that prevents any development of water resources in the state.