Control of water project may shift to local agency

Thursday, July 29, 1999 | 10:41 a.m.

Congress is considering transferring control of the original system built to deliver water from Lake Mead to the Las Vegas Valley from the federal Bureau of Reclamation to a local agency.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has sponsored a bill to help complete an agreement between the bureau and the Southern Nevada Water Authority for the title to facilities and land rights of the Robert Griffith Water Project.

Congress authorized the Griffith project in 1965 to supply thirsty Las Vegas with Lake Mead water after the valley dried up its ground water supply.

The Bureau of Reclamation built and operated the pumps and reservoirs supplying the valley and Nellis Air Force Base lake water at a cost of $199 million. The bureau paid about 85 percent of its annual cost, and Nevada provided the rest of the funding.

In 1991 the state created the Southern Nevada Water Authority to manage increasing water demands from the region. The authority has spent about $2 billion to improve the valley's water system and added a second delivery pipeline, General Manager Pat Mulroy said.

The bureau still pays about 14 percent a year of the remaining $169.2 million bill for the system, which supplies more than 80 percent of the valley's water, Mulroy said.

But if a pump or a pipe breaks, the authority has to ask the federal bureau's permission and wait until a supervisor can arrive to oversee the work, Mulroy said.

While Reid would like to wrap up the transfer by July 1, 2000, he agreed to remove the deadline.