Terry Marasco warned Humanists of Utah that if Las Vegas is successful in its effort to gain access to the groundwater in the Spring and Snake Valley a replica of the Sahara Desert will develop in the Western Utah-Eastern Nevada border country. January 11th, Marasco presented a colorful slide show along with details of the human, plant, and animal culture now residing in the area to a small group attending the January meeting. He said a population of approximately 350 presently preserves the environment that attracts several hundred tourists annually who enjoy the beautiful plant life and wild animals that roam the open space.

The Baker, Nevada resident explained how the Las Vegas Groundwater Development Project would pipe approximately 150,000 acre-feet of water via a 300-mile pipeline from the Utah border near Garrison to Las Vegas, Nevada. The aquifer from which the water would be pumped flows northward from Nevada and interacts with groundwater structures to the Great Salt Lake. Wells, now supplying water to the area, would dry up, vegetation would die, animal life would disappear and within a few years the entire area would look like the Sahara Deseret.

Marasco said, "The moral question is: Does society sacrifice rural livelihoods and natural environments for the growth of cities?"

He is asking Utah's governor and legislators to consider the dire economic, social and environmental consequences of the project and demand further scientific studies before making a decision on the Las Vegas proposal.

--Flo Wineriter