Nevada to be granted surplus of river water

Thursday, Dec. 14, 2000 | 11:13 a.m.

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt announced a surplus of Colorado River water today, the first surplus that Nevada will be able to draw upon under new rules.

Based on the rules to be published Friday, Nevada will be granted the water it needs for the coming year, said David Donnelly, deputy general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

"The rules give Nevada an opportunity to play on a level field," he said.

The surplus will be a small one -- 630,000 acre-feet -- compared with 800,000 acre-feet last year, said Robert Johnson, Bureau of Reclamation director for the Lower Colorado Basin.

The new rules for distributing the surplus put Nevada on equal footing with California and Arizona, the other Lower Basin states, Donnelly said.

Under the old rule, California received 50 percent of any surplus, Arizona was entitled to 46 percent, and Nevada could receive only 4 percent, Donnelly said.

Until recent years, Arizona and Nevada have not needed their shares of the surplus, so the all of the extra water automatically went to California. All extra water must be used in the year it is allotted.

The new rules will go into effect Jan. 17, after a 30-day period for comments. Babbitt said he will sign them before leaving office.

The plan reflects a compromise reached last summer among California water users that will force the state in 15 years to use only its allotted share. In the interim, California's needs will be met by drawing down Lake Mead, as much as 19 feet.

The compromise combines conservation, shifting water use from farms and ranches to cities, and a fairer division of Colorado River surpluses among the lower basin states -- California, Arizona and Nevada.

It also addresses environmental concerns on the Colorado's dried up delta at the U.S.-Mexican border, as well.

Last year California took 800,000 acre-feet of water above its official entitlement of 4.4 million acre-feet. That extra water served between 3.2 million and 4 million Californians. By comparison, Nevada gets 300,000 acre-feet of the river a year.

Southern California has already trimmed its use per person from 210 gallons a day to 183 gallons in the past 10 years.

If an extended drought were to occur on the river, a surplus would not be declared, and none of the Lower Basin states -- California, Arizona and Nevada -- would receive any extra water.

But the plan also allows Nevada to store any water it doesn't use underground in Arizona, like putting the river's surplus in a savings account for future dry years, according to Southern Nevada Water Authority General Manager Pal Mulroy.