Disaster

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, following a request from Gov. Gibbons, declared rural Nevada a "disaster area" because of crushing drought. This is the same area targeted for defoliation by the developers and their lackeys at the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
Which reminds us of a couple of things: Despite many millions the SNWA has spent trying to cleanse East Central Nevada of farmers and ranchers, agriculture is still important in this state. And, golly, it just doesn't seem like there's a lot of that "unused, renewable" water that Mrs. Mulroy keeps talking about on the teevees.
Finally, the disaster declaration raises the question of how the federal and state authorities would respond once the inevitable environmental consequences of the proposed Water Grab start to bite. Can you declare a disaster based on governmental policy?
Well, actually, I guess you can. Certainly our friends in New Orleans have some experience with that.

December 5, 2007

NEVADA RECEIVES SECRETARIAL DISASTER DESIGNATION FROM U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Nevada's request for a Secretarial Disaster Designation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been granted for the entire state of Nevada.
On Oct. 16, Gov. Jim Gibbons and the Nevada State Department of Agriculture sent a letter to Acting Secretary for the USDA Charles F.Conner, requesting federal assistance for the State of Nevada due to losses caused by drought and wildfires.
"This year's drought resulted in the loss of close to 1 million acres of grazing land for our ranching communities," said Gibbons in a press release today. "I am pleased that the USDA recognized the devastating impact that this year's drought and wildfires had on so many of Nevada's rural economies."

(Thanks to JB for the heads-up.)