Water Authority to pay tab from 1965 project

Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2000 | 11:46 a.m.

Southern Nevada residents paying for drinking water will save $10 million on the pipes and pumps that draw Lake Mead to their taps.

After Congress approved the move two months ago, the Southern Nevada Water Authority is ready to pay off the bill for the Robert B. Griffith Water Project, which was authorized in 1965.

Southern Nevada Water Authority Controller Matt Thorley said that the plumbing will be paid for through general obligation bonds, instead of the 50-year loans the federal government set up.

If the water authority continued to pay the federal loan, it would cost the ratepayers $270.9 million through 2006. Through a special arrangement, the water authority will pay a lump sum of $121.2 million and own the water delivery system, if no environmental impacts are found. After the cost of the bonds, the district should save about $10 million over 30 years, Thorley said.

Water officials discussed the plan at an open house Tuesday at the Las Vegas Valley Water District.

The federal government will still own the land, such as Saddle Island, where water is drawn into two gigantic pipelines for its trip uphill to the cities.

But when a pump breaks down or a pipe breaks, the water authority will no longer have to call the Bureau of Reclamation to get approval for repairs or for maintenance, SNWA environmental planner Lisa Luptowitz said.

While the bureau and the National Park Service own and manage the lands at Lake Mead's shore and the island, the water authority will have the right-of-way to take care of its facilities, Luptowitz said.

The system supplies about 85 percent of all water used in the Las Vegas Valley, including Boulder City and Nellis Air Force Base.

Scattered throughout the Las Vegas Valley are another 9.2 acres of federal land for pumping stations. Those lands will be purchased by the water authority as part of the payment package.

The federal government required an environmental assessment of any impacts from the change in ownership, Bureau of Reclamation project manager David Curtis said.

There are virtually no impacts, he said.

The 30-day public comment period ends Sept. 28. For more information, contact Curtis at (702) 293-8132 or Luptowitz at (702) 822-8489.

Mary Manning

covers environmental issues for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-4065 or by e-mail at manning@lasvegassun.com.