Colorado River states postpone meeting

Monday, June 7, 2004 | 10:03 a.m.

A meeting of the seven Colorado River basin states scheduled for Monday has been postponed until later this month.

Kay Brothers, deputy general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, said the meeting was postponed to give staff members from water agencies throughout the seven states more time to work on technical issues.

The states, which are Nevada, Arizona, California, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming, are working to find common ground as they struggle with the worst drought in the modern history of the Colorado River. Nevada is seeking the right to use water now slated for agricultural purposes in other states, a proposal that has not been well received by some other users.

Also, the lower-basin states of Nevada, Arizona and California are working to ensure that Lake Mead, the source of 90 percent of Las Vegas' water, simply maintains a high enough water level to keep the water flowing.

"We're modeling various scenarios" related to the drought, Brothers said. "They needed more time to do that modeling. This is just more time to do some technical analysis."

The meeting has been rescheduled for June 17 in Salt Lake City, she said.