Lawmakers hear grim details of LV’s water future

Thursday, Feb. 27, 2003 | 9:42 a.m.

Southern Nevada Water Authority officials took their message of mandatory conservation to Carson City on Wednesday.

The officials presented their plan to respond to more than three years of drought and develop more long-term water resources to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources. The focus was on the loss of so-called "surplus" that the Water Authority had counted on to provide a cushion of time to develop the new water sources.

After collapse of an agreement that would have weaned California from overuse of Colorado River water, the Interior Department cut off access to the surplus, which this year was expected to provide enough water for about 100,000 people in Las Vegas.

California water agencies are trying to rescue the deal and, officials hope, resume use of the surplus, which is unused apportionments from other states.

Pat Mulroy, Water Authority general manager, warned that even if the federal government authorizes use of the surplus, the ongoing drought represents a different and perhaps more serious threat to the use of the extra water.

Mulroy told the Senate panel that Arizona scientists are calling the drought the worst in 1,400 years of Colorado River history.

Also speaking to the Senate were several customers with concerns about the drought plan. Larry Paulsen, a longtime critic of the Water Authority, urged the state's political leadership to address issues of population growth, which he said is the real threat to the region's water.

Representatives of the region's golfing industry also reiterated their concern that the drought plan could cripple their industry. Part of proposed mandatory conservation measures would fine golf courses for heavy water use.

Kay Brothers, Water Authority deputy general manager, said her agency has long-term plans to develop other water resources beyond Lake Mead, which now supplies more than 80 percent of Clark County's water needs. Among those resources is 9,000 acre-feet of water from Coyote Springs, about enough water for 40,000 people.

Brothers said other groundwater resources are under development and could supply enough water for tens of thousands more. But the greatest problem for the authority is time, because it will take years to prove the resources exist and build pipelines from the northern valleys to the urban area, she said.

The surplus would have provided that time. Brothers and Mulroy told the senators that because of the various factors affecting the water situation in Las Vegas, a renewed emphasis on conservation is critically important.

Vince Alberta, Water Authority spokesman, said the agency regularly gives updates to the state's political leadership.

"They asked for an update. They received an update," he said. "There's been a variety of issues related to water that have come up in the last several months -- on the drought, the negotiations in California, and there was some interest in getting an update on the overall water resource picture in Southern Nevada."