Water usage in south hot topic at state summit

Wednesday, March 6, 2002 | 11:09 a.m.

FALLON -- An assembly representing land-use interests across the state on Tuesday called for an increase in the price of water in Southern Nevada as a way of cutting usage.

Participants at the third annual Nevada Land-Use Summit, including many from rural and northern counties, said providing "economic incentives" is a critical step toward encouraging deeper conservation of water in the south.

The summit, sponsored by two northern lawmakers, pulled together state and federal government officials, ranchers, mining companies and environmentalists to discuss land-use, water and related issues. Largely absent from the gathering of about 250 people, however, were Clark County government officials.

Many from rural counties, including Lincoln and White Pine, expressed concern that their largely agrarian lifestyles will change if water users in Clark County begin pumping from the north to quell the thirst of metropolitan Las Vegas -- a long-range plan of the Las Vegas Valley Water District. The district has applied with the Nevada State Engineer, which grants rights for water, to use thousands of acre-feet a year from the two eastern counties.

And a private company, Vidler Water Co., has filed applications to use the same water for development. The company, in an unusual partnership with Lincoln County, has said that it intends to divert water now used for agriculture to urban uses.

Both Lincoln and White Pine counties depend on agriculture as their economic base. Ranchers at the summit said they fear the 1.5 million people in Clark County would overwhelm the 4,000 or so people living in Lincoln County.

Raising water prices, they said, could cut water consumption and delay the loss of their water resources.

Some participants also called for legislation to bar "interbasin" water transfers between counties.

Although Clark County officials couldn't be found at the land-use summit, many Las Vegas-based environmental activists did attend. They agreed that raising water prices could encourage conservation.

John Hiatt, a Clark County environmentalist and community activist, said local officials need to formally recognize "that water is a finite resource in the state of Nevada."

"The water issue is possibly the most important in Nevada," he said. "We ignore it at our peril."

The five water districts that supply almost all Clark County users already have tiered pricing systems, in which heavier users pay more than those using minimal amounts. But Hiatt said the upper two tiers of the Las Vegas Valley Water District still don't charge enough to encourage significant conservation.

"For most people, it has virtually no effect," he said. "They will complain, but they won't change their habits until the bill is intolerable."

In Las Vegas, water officials said they are already committed to aggressively pushing conservation efforts. The Southern Nevada Water Authority, which provides the big five Clark County water districts with wholesale water for distribution, has a goal of reducing use by 25 percent by the year 2010, said Doug Bennett, water authority conservation manager.

He said numbers for last year aren't in, but in 2001 the authority just missed its goal of reducing use by 18 percent. The authority cut expected use by 16.5 percent, Bennett said.

Bennett said tiered rates are a part of encouraging conservation, as are regulatory efforts -- such as requiring desert landscaping -- and education, bringing information to the public on the importance of water conservation.

"We're doing everything we can in every arena," he said.

Amy Kremenek, Las Vegas Valley Water District spokeswoman, said the district always considers pricing as an element of encouraging conservation, but no price hikes are on the horizon.

Some water users north of Clark County said the south's seemingly insatiable demand for water will eventually lead to changes outside the metropolitan region.

"If Las Vegas pays enough for the water rights, I don't see how they can get away," said Carl Newberry, president of the Central Nevada Farm Bureau and treasurer of the Tonopah Conservation District. "Water is going to be so valuable, it will price agriculture out of the market."

He said that could have dire consequences on central and northern parts of Nevada.

"It'll turn the central part of the state back into dust to sustain swimming pools and fountains," Newberry warned.

State Engineer Hugh Ricci, whose office is charged with deciding who gets water, and how much, from applications for underground aquifers, said changes in both rural and urban patterns of water use will ultimately be necessary if Nevada is going to accommodate the different uses it now has.

"I think there are solutions," Ricci said at the summit. "You have to be optimistic."