Water Authority denies it has deal with Northern California

Monday, May 24, 2004 | 12:54 p.m.

A spokesman for Las Vegas' public water wholesaler said a recent report that his agency was considering buying water supplies from a rural area near San Francisco is off the mark.

"We're not. We're absolutely not," Southern Nevada Water Authority spokesman Vince Alberta said.

A report in California's Contra Costa Times on Friday said the for-profit Delta Wetlands Project met with Water Authority officials last week and peddled water that would be dammed in the bay area in the proposed project. Under the Las Vegas project, the unspecified amount of water would be transferred to Southern California and Las Vegas could take an equivalent amount of water in exchange from Lake Mead.

The newspaper noted that Las Vegas is grappling with the effects of five years of drought that has threatened water supplies.

Alberta said the proposal, however, would be too complex to be feasible.

"We had a brief meeting with them," he said. "We meet with a lot of people who have water proposals, but from our perspective it's going nowhere. It doesn't make sense."

A review by the California Bay Delta Authority, a state agency, of the Delta Wetlands Project proposal said it would cost $60 million to operate the proposed reservoir and could generate less than $30 million annually. The company, based in Lafayette, Calif., referred questions to a spokesman in Los Angeles, who did not immediately return phone calls.

The company, on its Web site, said it could provide 170,000 acre-feet annually for use in California and has needed federal and state approvals to build the reservoir.

Adan Ortega, vice president of Southern California's Metropolitan Water District, which provides about 20 million Golden State residents with water and like the Nevada water agency receives water from the Colorado River, said significant issues would have to be resolved before any deal could be consummated.

"This proposal by Delta Wetlands has been evolving for some time now," he said. "They do have some issues with critical players."

Ortega said his agency had talked with Pat Mulroy, Water Authority general manager, and had received word that Las Vegas is not interested in the deal.