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The Chosen One - Las Vegas Sun Page 7of10 Owens Valley had once been a lake. By contrast, the basins at the heart of the Las Vegas pumping plan had mainly seasonal springs and streams. In dry years, dust storms were common. The minute that Mulroy's applications for the Great Basin became public in October 1989, the protests were so thick that in no time "Scarlett" was being likened to another mythic figure, the man who inspired "Chinatown." Between 1989 and 1994, every major newspaper in the country had likened Mulroy's project to that of the notorious William Mulholland, the Los Angeles water manager whose aqueduct had reduced the once lush Owens Valley to a dust bowl. Some of the worst pain registered in Las Vegas itself, where biologists feared the loss of an international treasure. "The only other desert in the world with anything comparable to Nevada's storied flora existed in Persia," says College of Southern Nevada botanist David Charlet, "until the cradle of civilization sucked it dry." Among the more than 3,600 protests to Mulroy's plan sent to the state engineer were ones from almost every agency in the Department of Interior except Reclamation. To get her water, Mulroy would have to go through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management. To top it off, no group took more passionate exception to Mulroy's plan than the descendants of the very pioneers of the region. To rile a Utah Mormon, try describing the Great Basin aquifer as a Nevada "in -state resource." By February 1994, a chastened Mulroy had backed off the plan, so far that in an interview with the High Country News, she cheerfully quoted — and even appeared to concur with — critics that the Las Vegas pipeline was "the singularly most stupid idea anyone's ever had." Then the dawn of the century brought drought. Contine to Part III• "The Equation: No Water No Growth" Discussion: 9 comments so far... Byjfnance32 6/8/o8 at 6:44 a.m. Suggest removal It is not right for Las Vegas to destory the water system in the northern part of the state. Plus, it will cost over $io billion to build. We should use that money and buy farms and ranches in CA. By GOD 6/8/o8 at 8:48 a.m. Suggest removal To get her water, Mulroy would have to go through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management. NO, she went through the courts to steal it away from other states and even northern NV for the Las Vegas SPRAWL. By kbushbak 6/8/o8 at 9:05 a.m. Suggest removal It will not be until de- salination becomes mainstream and on par with production of http: / /www.lasvegassun.com /news /2008 /jun/08 /chosen -one/ 6/17/2008