Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Our big urban problem

Thursday, Dec. 12, 2002 | 8:30 a.m.

THE PRICE OF CLEAN DRINKING WATER is going up if the economic law of supply and demand is allowed to function freely. Also going up in price, unless there is an unforeseen miracle, will be the fruits and vegetables that require irrigation.

The rapid growth in population and declining rainfall is forcing Western states to face reality now and not tomorrow. This may be better than allowing the problem to worsen for the next couple of years and then not have an answer.

Several decades ago we would read and hear about the past wars between the cattlemen and sheepmen. The issue was over grazing, because sheep eat the grass right down to its roots and the cattle need longer blades to survive. The battles today are between sportsmen, farmers, environmentalists and thirsty urban populations. The role of intruders in these modern conflicts, are you, me and millions of others who drink, bathe, sprinkle lawns and fill swimming pools with water.

Many of us find it rather easy to complain about those farmers in California's Imperial Valley using so much water from Lake Mead. Sun writer Launce Rake, in a recent article, told readers how the Imperial Irrigation District officials see the situation:

"Officials with the Imperial Irrigation District, which takes the lion's share of water for agricultural purposes from Lake Mead, said the additional water could be critically important over the next six weeks to meet the nation's demand for fresh winter vegetables.

" 'We are the nation's winter salad bowl,' district spokeswoman Susan Giller said. 'There are times in the winter where virtually the only lettuce produced in the country comes from the Imperial Valley.'

"Other winter crops from Central California include carrots, broccoli, tomatoes, onions and other vegetables and fruits. But while the nation depends on the region's vegetables, the desert Southwest depends on Lake Mead's water."

California has been drawing over 800,000 acre-feet yearly above its allotment from the Colorado River. Nevada has also been overdrawing its allotment in recent years. The federal government told California it must come up with a plan, which will cut back to agreed upon limits during the coming years. An original agreement for the Imperial Valley farmers to transfer 200,000 acre-feet to San Diego County fell apart this week. That doesn't mean it's dead, because eventually common sense should dictate this plan and additional action must be taken. If not, then the federal government will cut back on the water now being used by both states. In the long run, these changes will come about but the cost of water could increase and so could the cost of some farm products.

The battle for water in the Klamath Basin of Oregon and California this year is between the environmentalists and sportsmen who fish salmon against the farmers. Again there was more need than water available. This was all triggered when too much water was promised during the drought of 2001. What both sides need is more rain and a reasonable water management program.

According to a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation chart, Lake Mead has a capacity for 28.5 million acre-feet. At this time it is holding 16.8 million acre-feet. Even a heavy snow pack this winter won't give relief from the present conditions. We are fortunate that the Bureau of Reclamation and the Southern Nevada Water Authority are so efficient, but only several wet winters and our own willingness to conserve will make a dent in our water problems.

We don't have control over the changing weather patterns and can only hope that the present drought trends won't continue. In the meantime, we should continue looking even farther down the road for new water sources. Among the new sources could be desalinization of ocean water in exchange for more Colorado River water.