Power contract for river water sparks concern

Thursday, Oct. 31, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

It takes millions of dollars to make water run uphill.

In addition to the miles of pipeline needed to transport water from the Colorado River to Las Vegas, $21 million must be spent yearly on electricity to run the pumping stations.

That translates to half the average homeowner's monthly water bill, said Pat Mulroy, water authority general manager.

Who's responsible for electrical facilities to handle the ever-increasing demand for water was the subject of an intense discussion Wednesday.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority and the state Colorado River Commission approved a $44 million power project, but not before a provision was removed that appeared to have absolved the state of liability in case anything happens to the project.

Southern Nevada officials angrily questioned the state trying to duck liability.

Clark County Commissioner Paul Christensen, a member of the water authority board, said the contract's clause bothered him. "There's no recourse to anyone, except the ratepayers who will have to pay," he said.

None of the state deputy attorneys general who worked on the agreement could say whether the liability clause was routine in state contracts, prompting the board and commission to remove it.

Deputy Attorney General James Davenport, representing the CRC, said the water authority can step in and take over the project if anything happens to the CRC.

"Any conflict that arises here will have a political solution," Davenport said.

"The political solution is when ratepayers lose," Christensen said, recalling 20 years ago when the county built an advanced wastewater treatment plant that eventually cost $53 million in federal funding above budget.

Richard Bunker, director of the Nevada Resort Association and a CRC member, voiced similar concerns.

"If this is separate and particular to this one contract, I have the same concerns that you do," Bunker said.

The contract covers a few miles of transmission lines and two substations that need to be completed by July 1998 to meet the growing Las Vegas Valley's water demands, said David Lattrell, CRC project manager.

Beyond this contract phase, more construction will occur and then millions more dollars will be needed to buy the electricity to supply the pumping demands, he said.

The CRC acts as a state liaison with the federal government for water and power concerns affecting Nevada on the Colorado River. Deputy Attorney General Gerald Lopez explained that officials' concerns would be justified if the CRC was a for-profit corporation. "It's not," he said. "It doesn't have the money or the deep pockets."

New CRC member Roland Westergard said the SNWA and CRC had worked for years in cooperation to deliver more water to Southern Nevada efficiently and inexpensively. He called the contract a "critically important process."

The SNWA and CRC plan to call special meetings to approve further amendments.