Fast-growing Mesquite in battle for water

Friday, March 1, 2002 | 11:01 a.m.

Water is sparking a growing fight pitting a small city in northeast Clark County against Lincoln County and a private company.

The issue puts the present and future water needs of fast-growing Mesquite against the desire of a rural county desperate for economic development.

Lincoln County and its partner in water projects, Vidler Water Co., want to supply a proposed power plant with 7,000 acre-feet of water a year -- enough for about 35,000 people.

But Virgin Valley Water District officials, who provide water to customers in Mesquite, say the project directly threatens their ground-water supplies. Those supplies are critical for satisfying the thirst of the fast-growing city, which doubled in population from 1990 to 2000.

Mesquite has about 10,000 people, according to the 2000 Census.

The state engineer, who arbitrates the sometimes bitter disputes over water rights, will likely decide the issue sometime this year. No formal hearing has been set, State Engineer Hugh Ricci said Thursday, but he said his office is trying to expedite resolution of the issue.

Michael Winters, Virgin Valley Water District general manager, charges that Lincoln County is deliberately backing a water-guzzling type of power plant to make money for the county and Vidler Water.

County and company officials agree that they will make much more money -- about $22 million -- from water sales than they would from a different design. But they also argue that they have every right to use water in their county any way they see fit.

Lincoln County, with about 4,000 people, is seeking ways to provide badly needed revenue for schools and other public projects. The county several years ago entered into an unusual partnership with Vidler in which the county would cover costs for construction of water-supply projects, but Vidler would clear the way through the regulatory and permitting process for such efforts.

Final profits, if any, would be split between the county and the water company.

North Carolina-based Cogentrix, which is planning the power plant, also argues that their design may use more water but will be cheaper to operate in summer months.

The Virgin Valley Water District is protesting a pending water application filed by Lincoln County for the water in the Tule Desert.

Winters said federal estimates of the available water where Lincoln County plans to drill provide about 1,000 acre-feet per year, far short of the 7,000 Cogentrix says will be needed.

An acre-foot is about 386,000 gallons, or enough water for a family of five for a year.

The proposed Toquop Power Plant would be about 20 miles northwest of Mesquite, the closest town. It would put 1,000 megawatts onto the local power grid, about enough power for 500,000 homes in Southern Nevada during the summer.

The plant needs 7,000 acre-feet of water per year because it is a water-cooled, gas-fired plant.

The project is in contrast to Clark County, where the Southern Nevada Water Authority only permits air-cooled plants, which use only a fraction of the water.

Michael Johnson, Virgin Valley's chief hydrologist, said his agency's biggest worry is that the proposed water use will affect the availability of water in Mesquite's basin. Water experts believe that such "hydrologic basins," including the Tule Desert and Virgin Valley basins, are interconnected -- water taken from one area could affect groundwater availability in another.

But Vidler Chief Operating Officer Dorothy Timian-Palmer said there is no danger of Mesquite being affected.

"Withdrawing 7,000 acre-feet for the Cogentrix plant will have no impact on their existing water rights," she said. "We believe the perennial yield is much higher than originally estimated."

Cogentrix Vice President Patrick King said without the water, the proposed Taqoup plant probably wouldn't be built. The issue is economics, he said.

An air-cooled plant, which might use 500 acre-feet of water per year, wouldn't provide Lincoln County and Vidler with the financial incentive to build wells, pumping stations and a pipeline to the Cogentrix plant, he said.

Timian-Palmer agreed. She said ultimately the issue is up to Lincoln County.

"Lincoln County (officials) would like to put as much water to use in their county as possible," she said. "We intend to bring these water resources forward."

Vidler and Lincoln County already are fighting other water agencies in Southern Nevada.

Southern Nevada Water Authority officials are contending with the partners for water rights throughout most of the east-central part of the state, but not in the water basin proposed to satisfy the Cogentrix plant.

Vince Alberta, authority spokesman, said his agency isn't formally protesting the water rights sought by Vidler for the power plant.

But the authority may attend a planned March 12 meeting in Mesquite where Vidler, Lincoln County and Virgin Valley officials plan to discuss the fight over water rights.