Let's call a timeout for a plan to drain water from Utah and send it to Las Vegas. The aquifer under the Snake Valley is a vital source of water for Utah. It's not so clear that Las Vegas will need the water more than Utah does.

The Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club, Utah Moms for Clean Air, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment and Western Resource Advocates are among the two dozen or so groups that have sent a letter of protest to the U.S. Department of the Interior and related agencies.

Since most of the water is on the Utah side, it's of great concern to Utahns. If too much is siphoned off for southern Nevada, that could devastate the environment, wildlife and ranching in some of the more arid portions of the Beehive State.

Southern Nevada Water Authority has filed for 52,000 acre feet of water -- almost 17 billion gallons -- to be taken from Snake Valley and piped to the Las Vegas area. The rationale long has been that the gambling mecca is growing so fast that it will need much more water in coming decades.

But will itfi The city grew fast during the real estate bubble. The popping of that bubble has hit hard. Home prices have plunged 31 percent in the past 12 months. Foreclosures have ripped through the market: About half the houses for sale in Las Vegas are owned by banks.

The recession has slowed the tourism business. The credit crunch has slammed some of the giant gambling companies, and some big casino/hotel projects planned for Las Vegas have been suspended. A lot of the activity that drove growth there may not resume for years, observers say.

In short, the rapid growth of Las Vegas may be more a thing of the past than the present.

With that in mind, projections of how much water its denizens will need in coming decades should be revisited. It wasn't even clear to some observers that Vegas needed more water even if growth had continued at the wild pace of recent years. Now, all plans should be completely revised.

There's time to do so, but only if Utah keeps the pressure on. Hearings for the proposed groundwater project in the Snake Valley have been scheduled from late September through October 2009 in Carson City, Nev.

Environmental groups say federal agencies have wimped out on similar water projects in the past. Whatever the case may be, Utah should take care of itself on this issue.

In coming years, even after we pull out of this slump, everyone is going to have to deal with a more realistic view of life and business, and that goes especially for Las Vegas.

Do you agree?