Boulder City eyes ways to protect water share

Jeffrey Libby

Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2000 | 11:04 a.m.

Boulder City officials are counting the ways to protect their Colorado River water allotment as the Las Vegas Valley rapidly expands and seeks water farther afield.

They also are trying to keep pace with new water demands from current and projected commercial and residential growth at home.

From a $20,000 report on city water usage by Black and Veatch Corp., councilmen learned Tuesday that if the city grows as projected, the allotment of 18,742 acre-feet should hold through 2030.

In that year, with a projected population of just more than 20,200 people, water usage would be 17,020 acre-feet.

In 1999 the city used about 9,000 acre-feet of water, with 50 percent of that water tapped by the roughly 15,000 residents, according to the study.

For Public Works Director Phillip Henry, the report held few surprises.

"The report pretty much substantiated the figures from the Pentacore (Engineering) study," Henry said.

That study was completed in 1997. The Black and Veatch study provided a more in-depth second opinion, council members said.

They plan to use the study as a benchmark against which to make future decisions about proposed increases to water usage.

The report noted that 600 acre-feet of the city's water is lost annually because of leaks in the 70-year-old infrastructure, a loss that concerned Councilman Bill Smith. But Bill Van Stone, spokesman for the engineering company, said repairs would be more costly than the savings in water.