We need new thinking on water issues
To the editor:
According to Henry Brean’s Friday story, “Water authority pursues a big gulp,” John Entsminger, deputy general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, says the proposed $10 billion water pipeline makes financial sense because Las Vegas is dependent on a single source of water. But being dependent on the Colorado River has nothing to do with the economics of this project.
To put it into perspective, the water authority wants to add $5 a month to our water bills to pay for the $300 million water intake now being constructed under Lake Mead. On that basis, a $10 billion project would add an additional $165 a month to our bills. It is simply not affordable.
What is needed is a change in the authority’s thinking.
Most of the Colorado River’s water is now parceled out to farmers to grow alfalfa and cotton in the desert. That water has value, and as Los Angeles has already proved, it can be purchased from the growers for a lot less money than it costs to build expensive desalination or pipeline projects.
Los Angeles is paying Imperial Valley farmers about $100 per acre-foot, or 30 cents per 1,000 gallons, for their irrigation water. The economics of Arizona and California desert farming should make water available to Las Vegas for similar prices.
It’s time to start allocating this scarce resource to the most valuable uses and quit thinking the best solution is always building unaffordable projects.
Tom Keller
Henderson
In stock
To the editor:
The fallacy in Gary Kruskall’s Thursday letter to the editor in advocating a lower capital gains tax only for stock purchased directly from a corporation: Who will be there to then buy the stock when the original purchaser wants to sell it?
Henry Schmid
Las Vegas
College costs
To the editor:
Finding the money to send your child to college can be a monumental task, one that can sometimes seem overwhelming for a parent, especially in the economic times we face today.
The cost of attending college continues to escalate, and that’s where the Nevada Prepaid Tuition Program can help you make a profound difference in your child’s life. The program provides many benefits and affordable plan options, including flexible payment plans that start at as little as $36 per month.
The goal of the Nevada Prepaid Tuition Program is to assist parents, grandparents and other family members in delivering the promise of a college education for their child.
Providing for a child’s higher education needs is one of the greatest and most long-lasting gifts we can provide our children. A college education is a gift that will last a lifetime, and will most certainly pave the way to a more successful future.
The 2012 open enrollment period for the Nevada Prepaid Tuition Program concludes on Feb. 28.
I invite you to review the information and consider joining the more than 14,120 Nevada parents and other caregivers who have enrolled their children in the program.
To learn more, go to NevadaTreasurer.gov.
Kate Marshall
Carson City
The writer is Nevada treasurer and oversees the Nevada Prepaid Tuition Program.
Nice shot
To the editor:
Regularly, I read of local police shootings as well as seeing comments on the lack of repercussions for any of our police officers involved in fatal shootings.
Then I read about the Las Vegas policeman who was suspended and may lose his job because he allegedly had two women take off their blouses in order to “search” them (Thursday Review-Journal). My thought: He should have shot them. Then nothing would have happened to him.
Barbara Davis
Las Vegas
