Contact your city council member and county commissioners. Tell them to enact laws and guidelines that protect current residents and the rural environment from sprawl and unbridled growth. Demand sensible and broad-based water conservation policies and practices that promote and reward high levels of conservation.

Contact your governor and state legislators. Urge them to support policies that do not destroy the Great Basin's diverse economy or the environment. Laws should protect rural areas from becoming dust bowls due to groundwater transfers.

E-mail or phone your Washington, D.C. legislators. Tell them your views and ask what they intend to do about huge development and the federal government policies about land and water trades that ultimately threaten to destroy rural communities.

Make Your Voice Heard. Write letters to the editor. Attend public hearings, comment on federal, state and local actions. Be an advocate for wise water use.

For a calendar of upcoming water hearings and events, click here.