Monday, Aug. 29, 2005 | 9:02 a.m.
Neither our wet winter of 2004-2005 nor our wet spring this year did much to boost the water level of the Colorado River, or to boost the outlooks of the water managers in the seven Western states that depend on the river. If there is one topic the managers agree on, it's that all seven states, which include Nevada, remain in a drought.
With water in short supply, disagreements are plentiful. The water managers, including Pat Mulroy, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, met in San Diego last week and discussed ways of being more cooperative. A divide has appeared between the states of the upper Colorado River basin -- Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico -- and the lower basin states -- Nevada, Arizona and California. Utah, in particular, doesn't like Mulroy's plan to pipe groundwater from instate counties north of Las Vegas, including Lincoln County. Utah believes tapping water from Lincoln, which it borders, will have a negative affect on its own groundwater supplies.
And Colorado, in particular, doesn't like Mulroy's plan of diverting water from the Virgin and Muddy rivers, which flow into the Colorado River. That takes away water from all states, it argues. Arizona, which also taps into water from Colorado River tributaries, sides with Nevada on the issue. None of the states wants to sue each other, as such action takes time and money away from the overall necessity of providing their residents with a steady source of water. Stopping lawsuits against each other was a major reason for the meeting and we were glad to see an agreement among the states to keep talking, at least for now, rather than suing.
One speaker at the meeting, Arizona attorney Grady Grammage, proposed a plan that would surely lead to extended court battles. He suggested that Western communities set "population horizons," which, in other words, means growth management strategies. He gave a brief history of federal policy in the West, which was to encourage growth here. "Policies to encourage population growth are an anachronism that has to be rethought," he said.
In theory, he is right. Continued population growth and continued drought conditions are at odds. But in practicality, how do you stop growth? People in this country are free to live wherever they want to, and businesses such as home developers are free to meet the demand in growing areas. We believe in conservation policies, but not in growth management strategies, which would wreck our economy and controvert our freedoms. The best hope for getting more water rests with the affected states continuing to cooperate until a mutually agreeable solution is found.
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