Editorial: Water ruling brings hope

Thursday, April 19, 2007 | 6:55 a.m.

The chances for an eventual new water supply for the Las Vegas Valley were heightened considerably this week, and, as a result, the chances brightened for continued economic health throughout Nevada.

A long-standing request from Southern Nevada officials to draw water from Spring Valley, a rural area in White Pine County - about 350 miles north of Las Vegas - was approved Monday by State Engineer Tracy Taylor.

Although Taylor did not grant all that had been requested, his decision is a breakthrough not only for the Southern Nevada Water Authority, but for all residents of Nevada.

Pat Mulroy, general manager of the Water Authority and the person behind the request, which dates from 1989, has warned for some time that the ongoing drought, and the consequent depletion of the Colorado River, will mean an end to growth in Las Vegas by 2016 unless a new water supply is secured.

We supported the Water Authority when the state engineer's office held hearings on the request in September. The request, one of several filed for water in northern Lincoln and White Pine counties, was for 91,000 acre-feet of water annually from Spring Valley.

Reports by the Water Authority indicated that deep aquifers in that area could yield that much water without environmental harm. The studies were augmented by agreements with federal agencies that protected the area's water supply, which ranchers depend on for their livelihoods.

In his decision, Taylor mandated a strict monitoring program and granted 40,000 acre-feet (one acre-foot sustains a family of five for a year) for 10 years and a maximum of 60,000 acre-feet annually after that if no harm is detected.

Naturally, we wish the Colorado River was healthy enough to alone sustain growing Southern Nevada. But reality has intruded. A drought that began in the late 1990s is continuing with no end in sight, and rapid population growth is still being experienced in the seven states, including Nevada, that depend on the river's water.

It is easy to see now that a major alternative water source is vital. Mulroy and her staff saw this 20 years ago, and all Nevadans are in debt to their foresight. Southern Nevada generates most of the state's revenue. If it stops growing, the economy of the whole state would suffer.

We see the engineer's decision as a hopeful sign that someday a heavily monitored pipeline can be built that would draw from all of the areas cited by the Water Authority, including Spring and Snake valleys in White Pine County and four basins in Lincoln County.