Toiyabe Chapter
Nevada and Eastern California
PO Box 8096
Reno, NV 89507
(775) 323-3162
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Pages updated monthly
Desert Tortoise - Meadow Valley Wash (D. Ghiglieri)
Sensitive
Plants,
Animals, and Fish in Eastern and Southern Nevada
Wildlife threatened by groundwater pumping and export.
Moapa Dace: [US Fish and Wildlife Service]Desert Tortoise's would be negatively affected by disturbance and routing of pipelines, installation of many pumping facilities, powerlines and roads necessary to support the pumping facilities necessary to support what has been described as nearly 1,000 miles of pipelines to import water to metropolitan Las Vegas.
The direct effects of pumps, pipelines, powerlines, and roads disturb the surface, but the pumping itself is more than likely to affect the groundwater flow which supports the numerous springs associated with sensitive, threatened and endangered plants, fish, and animals. Compare the pipeline route map (a PDF download or JPEG download) with the maps below.
The following information has been extracted from the Nevada Natural Heritage Program (NNHP) Public Database. For more information on endemic species go to the NNHP website: http://heritage.nv.gov
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Threatened and Endangered Species Map (Lincoln County and nearby areas)
- Pipelines overlaid with
sensitive springs with unique fish species and high quality desert
tortoise habitat
GROUNDWATER FLOW
Groundwater flows in Eastern and Southern Nevada by following a deep layer of carbonate rocks. The flow, while underground, supports numerous springs throughout eastern Nevada and southern Nevada extending to Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and Death Valley National Park.
PIPELINES IN LINCOLN COUNTY (AGREEMENT BETWEEN SOUTHERN NEVADA WATER AUTHORITY AND LINCOLN COUNTY/VIDLER WATER COMPANY)
Pipelines of both the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) and the Lincoln County/ Vidler Water Company stretch throughout Lincoln County and beyond into White Pine and Clark Counties (not all proposed pipeline routes are shown). SNWA also has water applications in neighboring Nye County, but has not proposed pipelines at this time.