Three-year drought drying up water supplies

Monday, July 22, 2002 | 11:06 a.m.

While California's stumble over the Salton Sea could lead to suspension of rights for Nevada to take surplus water from the Colorado River, another problem is perhaps more threatening: a three-year drought that is drying up water supplies throughout the river basin.

Water officials say the ebb and flow of natural weather cycles mean that droughts will occur and the amount of water flowing through the river to Lake Mead, Southern Nevada's principal water source, will also fluctuate. But long-term drought conditions threaten the region's access to surplus water from states in the northern parts of the Colorado River basin.

In a worse-case situation the federal government could halt use of the surplus or unused water altogether, which would dry up about 10 percent of Southern Nevada's regular water supply.

Already the drought has dropped Lake Mead water levels to about 1,160 feet above sea level, about 70 percent of capacity. And the drought, which has created conditions ripe for wildfires throughout the West, shows little signs of easing.

The level is enough for the federal Bureau of Reclamation to declare a "limited surplus condition," meaning the unused interim surplus water from the northern states of the Colorado River basin is directed mostly toward urban needs. The condition does not affect Southern Nevada's use of the surplus.

Bob Johnson, regional director for the federal Bureau of Reclamation, said if the drought continues the lake level could drop below 1,145 feet next spring. If that happens, the bureau would cut in half the amount of surplus Nevada, California and Arizona draw.

In a worst-case scenario the drought would continue through next summer, and lake levels would drop below 1,125 feet. Then, under federal river rules, the bureau would suspend the surplus draw -- enough water for about 100,000 people in Southern Nevada alone.

Johnson and Southern Nevada Water Authority General Manager Pat Mulroy said that situation is unlikely before 2004, but the prospect has them worried.

"At that point we have to fall back on the water we've banked," Mulroy said.

The situation would call for stronger conservation measures, but with the recovery of banked water, the region could sustain the present level of water use for perhaps a decade, she said.

Unlike some parts of the country, there are limits in Las Vegas as to how much water can be conserved, Mulroy said. "Every other day" watering rules for landscapes and lawns are used throughout much of the country, including the relatively wet Northeast, when droughts threaten water supplies.

But in Southern Nevada, the heat requires constant watering or the plants will die, Mulroy said.

While the system has enough water banked to keep up the present level of usage for 10 years, Mulroy said her agency and the water districts throughout Clark County would likely begin to take action immediately to curb water waste, action above and beyond steps it has already imposed.

"Rationing is an option on the table, or target reductions for usage classes," Mulroy said. "People would have to take a look at their options long and hard." Large, expensive projects to bring more water to the area also would probably be accelerated, she said. Those projects include building desalinization plants on the Pacific Coast, or bringing water to California in exchange for taking some of the Golden State's water from Lake Mead.

Another long-term project, now barely on the table, would be to build wells and pipelines in Nevada counties north of here to bring groundwater to the Las Vegas basin.

One persistent critic of the water authority said he does not believe rationing or the big-money projects should be necessary.

Larry Paulson, a retired University of Nevada, Las Vegas biologist, said he has already cut back his water use significantly. He blames a political culture that encourages growth for using more and more water at the cost of hardship for those already here.

"Why should I face rationing because they want to keep building?" he asked.

Paulson predicted that there will be widespread opposition to rationing or to heavy water-use charge increases to pay for huge capital projects.

"You're going to see a lot of people get really mad," he said.