Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2005 | 9:53 a.m.
For three years Southern Nevada has been enjoying a pleasant paradox: Even as the population increased by about 80,000 people a year, the total amount of water used has dropped.
The reduction, mostly attributable to the public and governmental response to a drought-induced threat to the Colorado River, helped the region's water wholesaler trim the total water use every year since 2002, when it topped out at 500,000 acre-feet. Last year, the total was about 35,000 acre-feet less.
This year, however, is on track to at best equal 2004's usage level, and may even show a slight increase. In three of the last four months, the level of water use increased over last year, reversing almost four years of a trend towards reduced use.
In July and September, Southern Nevada Water Authority staffers said the month-to-month increases could be anomalies. Now, they worry that the increases might signal a permanent shift.
Particularly worrisome is last month's water use. Usually, a wet month brings with it decreased water use as people turn off their irrigation systems when it rains. Although October's 1.45 inches of precipitation was significantly above the normal average of less than a quarter-inch, water use increased over last year's.
"Our staff is somewhat concerned about conservation numbers for October," Water Authority General Manager Pat Mulroy told the agency's seven-person board last week. In the usually cautious language of bureaucracies, such an admission can be significant.
Mulroy said she does not know whether the shifting numbers signal that the "low hanging fruit" of easier conservation measures has been picked.
"Is there an element of complacency because we have done so well? Probably," she said. "Are there opportunities still out there? Absolutely."
Last week the Water Authority board accepted recommendations that the region set a goal to trim 10 percent off of today's per person usage, a move that if adopted would likely require potentially politically thorny water restrictions.
Kurt Segler, Henderson's utility services manager, has guided his city's conservation efforts over the last several years. He notes that although overall use may not fall, per person use will continue to decline as more and more people move into the region, in part because rising land prices are producing smaller houses with reduced irrigation needs.
The issue is critically important to the region because Southern Nevada is close to the maximum it can take from the river, source of 90 percent of the region's water. At the same time, critics of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the regional wholesaler, are pushing for greater conservation or moratoriums on growth as an alternative to the agency's plans to use rural water for urban needs.
Regardless of how many people come into Southern Nevada, as long as there is no alternative source to the Colorado River, the population will have to stay with the federal cap on river water use, he said.
"You're seeing our water use level off, but the valley still is growing," Segler said. "We're still seeing improvements in our per capita water use. Our conservation efforts aren't leveling off. ... Our data ... shows a 6 percent drop every year in the amount of water use in a single-family home."
Segler said the "low hanging fruit" of water use restrictions, including the restrictions on watering some days of the week, have worked well. Now the region has to look toward making those drought-inspired restrictions permanent, he said.
One of his bosses, Henderson City Councilwoman and Water Authority board member Amanda Cyphers, agreed. Cyphers helped pass the restrictions three years ago that were touted as the response to the 1999-2004 drought.
"I knew then that we would never go back," she said. "If we don't start working towards solutions now ... in the future, we will find ourselves facing disaster."
The Water Authority board scheduled a workshop for early January to discuss conservation. The workshop could take a step toward making the drought-inspired rules permanent parts of the regulatory landscape.
"Conservation is paramount and very important," said Kay Brothers, the Water Authority's deputy general manager.
The Water Authority says conservation measures adopted since 2002 have saved water. Those measures have included a $1-per-square-foot payment for ripping out grass; the agency predicts that by the end of the year, 35 million square feet of turf will have been removed.
Outdoor uses are targeted because the agency believes 70 percent of all water used in Southern Nevada goes to outdoor uses, while indoor uses are automatically recycled through Lake Mead.
Fines for water waste and other conservation issues will be on the agenda for the coming year, and not just at the January workshop, Water Authority officials said.
Mulroy noted that unless there is a significant increase in the amount of water flowing into Lakes Mead and Powell on the river, there is the likelihood that the Interior Department may impose shortages on users all along the river.
Along with the plans to develop rural water, the Water Authority has stored water in underground aquifers here, in Arizona and in California.
For now, though, the Colorado River is Las Vegas' singular water resource. Stretching that resource through conservation has been a key component of the agency's plans.
Another reason to seek greater water conservation comes from the opponents to the Water Authority's plans to seek rural water to supply Las Vegas. Some of those critics argue that if conservation were pursued more aggressively, the agency would not need the extra water.
"Conservation is a must, not a luxury," said Bob Fulkerson, state director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada.
Launce Rake can be reached at 259-4127 or at [email protected].
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