Moving into deeper water

Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2006 | 7:06 a.m.

A coalition of regional governments has revised its plan to pay for a massive $750 million public works project, paving the way to send the valley's treated wastewater deep into Lake Mead by 2012 and to keep that contaminated water away from intakes that bring fresh water to Clark County.

The revision came after representatives of the Clean Water Coalition - a consortium of Clark County, Las Vegas and Henderson - met with business and residential developers and agreed to phase in the fee schedule needed to pay for the project. North Las Vegas, not currently a coalition member, is expected to join this fall.

The coalition's advocates argue that the region's growing population and its effluent will overwhelm the ability of Las Vegas Wash and its natural systems to deliver the wastewater to Lake Mead.

The proposed change would take 300 million gallons of treated wastewater daily and put it 200 feet deep into the lake, moving it farther from the county's intake straws. Project construction is slated to begin within two years.

The three local governments formed the Clean Water Coalition in 2002. Last year the coalition and federal agencies, including Lake Mead managers with the Bureau of Reclamation, held a series of public meetings describing the project as part of a mandated environmental impact study.

Some critics have suggested that the local governments could avoid the project by using more recycled water upstream for irrigation and other needs, but project advocates argue that the wastewater stream is actually an essential element of the urban water system.

Under the long-standing agreement with the federal government, the Southern Nevada Water Authority is allowed to take a gallon of fresh water from Lake Mead for every gallon of treated wastewater returned to the lake - a process called "return flow credits."

Those credits have stretched the region's wholesale consumption of Lake Mead water from the basic allocation of 300,000 acre-feet a year to about 500,000 acre-feet annually. One acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons.

Developers did not object to the project itself but said earlier this month that the coalition hadn't done enough to justify the price tag for the project.

Funding was originally planned to come through a connection fee to municipal sewage systems for all new construction - single-family homes, apartments and commercial and industrial buildings. A new house, for example, would have paid an $800 fee beginning Oct. 1.

That fee will now be $400 and rise to $812 for houses connected starting July 2007. The $12 increase over the original $800 fee represents the cost increase expected by phasing in the fee, said Eric Hawkins, a coalition spokesman.

Developers said the funding formula was a product of community discussions.

"I think we've had some very constructive, productive dialogue with the coalition," said Monica Caruso, spokeswoman for the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association.

The new funding formula will be easier for residential developers to manage, she said, and make a big difference for a housing industry facing a slower market and other significant increases.

She said developers would still pass on the increased connection fees to new home buyers, but her organization realizes the importance of the project.

"We've got serious work to do on the issue of clean water," Caruso said.

Coalition managers have also promised that in an effort to control potential fee increases in the future, they will review future revenues, including monies from a hydroelectric power station planned for the project.

"We think the agreement to revisit the costs and revenues for this project every couple of years is a good idea," said Steve Holloway, executive vice president of Associated General Contractors, a trade group representing Las Vegas' commercial developers.

"We may be able to avoid future increases, and at the very least, it gives a little more public involvement in a very large project."

Hawkins said the Clark County Commission, serving as the Clark County Water Reclamation District, is scheduled to vote on the funding formula Sept. 5. The city councils of Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas would follow in September and early October.