Future needs of the West subject of water conference

Jace Radke

Thursday, June 26, 2003 | 9:27 a.m.

The Bureau of Reclamation's plan for ensuring that the water needs of the West are met over the next two decades will be the topic of discussion during a conference in Las Vegas scheduled for July 9.

The Las Vegas Water 2025 conference is intended to focus attention on the explosive population growth in the West and the stress it is putting on water supplies, federal officials said.

Bennett Raley, Interior Department assistant secretary for water and science, will attend the conference along with representatives of the Water Conservation Coalition of Southern Nevada, Colorado River Commission of Nevada, the Southern Nevada Water Authority and other agencies.

The conference is designed to give the public and various government and conservation officials a chance to discuss ways of preventing chronic water supply problems in the future.

Access to unused allocations of Colorado River water by Nevada and California has been cut off by the Bureau of Reclamation because California agencies have failed to agree on a plan for dividing their share of Lake Mead water. Existing interstate agreements on water use mean that Nevada is included in the cutoff.

Water levels at Lake Mead are down more than 50 feet over the last three years, after four years of drought in the Rocky Mountains. About 90 percent of Las Vegas' water comes from Lake Mead and the Colorado River.

The Water 2025 conference is open to the public, but space is limited to about 200 attendees, Bureau of Reclamation spokesman Robert Walsh said. Those who want to attend can register at www.usbr.gov/lc/water2025/nv/main.cfm.