Perseverance key to our future

Pat Mulroy, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority

Friday, Aug. 13, 2010 | 2 a.m.

In August, Brian Greenspun turns over his Where I Stand column to guest writers. Today’s columnist is Pat Mulroy, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

The great American patriot Samuel Adams once said that “the necessity of these times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude and perseverance.”

Adams was speaking of the coming American Revolution, but the same could be said of the daunting challenges facing our community. From the perspective of a water agency, these challenges have been of historic proportion.

Never in recent history has an 11-year drought so ravaged the desert Southwest as the one we are experiencing. Lake Mead, which provides 90 percent of this community’s water, is at record low levels, and one more bad winter in the Rocky Mountains could throw us into shortage conditions on the Colorado River.

The U.S. Interior Department and the Colorado River Basin states are working feverishly to preserve as much water in Lake Mead as possible to forestall those shortage conditions. But, as always, it will depend on Mother Nature in the end.

As bleak as this may appear, the willingness of you and your neighbors to use water prudently has given us the ability to withstand the early reductions that we will be forced to endure once Lake Mead goes into critical shortages.

Although Southern Nevada is often viewed as a place of excess, and outsiders sometimes question the prudence of building a city in the Mojave Desert, those same critics ignore the impressive fact that — even as our community grew by more than 400,000 from 2002 to 2009 — our annual water use actually decreased by more than 20 billion gallons during that span. This community and its residents have proven time and again that they can meet a challenge.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority continues taking steps to ensure that our community has a safe, reliable water supply for many years to come. The current economic climate has compelled us to place on hold all but the most critically needed infrastructure projects.

Among these is the new, deeper intake in Lake Mead that will protect our ability to take water from the lake if the drought persists. This has been a difficult summer for the men and women working on this project, which is one of the most challenging construction projects in the United States today.

Intake construction was delayed by a geologic feature that caused incursion of water and loose material into the intake’s starter tunnel. Although common to the tunneling industry, it was a most unwelcome sight to the crews burrowing beneath the lake. Workers are implementing the needed ground stabilization so tunneling can resume as soon as possible.

While we are racing to complete the most urgent projects, we also have to plan decades in advance to secure our community’s water supply. We recognize that, at some point, Southern Nevada’s economic engine will restart and, when it does, we need to ensure it has sufficient water.

Additionally, if Lake Mead continues its drought-induced decline, no amount of conservation will be able to withstand the reductions that may lie ahead. All the options we are currently pursuing that rely on Colorado River water to leverage additional resources will not be available. For example, ocean desalting is of no value if there is no Colorado River water to exchange with a coastal state or country.

To that end, we are continuing through the long and arduous permitting process so that, if and when conditions warrant, we can draw upon a portion of Nevada’s available groundwater supplies for your use. Given the challenges and obstacles associated with permitting large water resource projects, it is crucial that we bring this one to “shovel-ready” status in a timely manner so we are prepared to move forward if necessary.

The Nevada Supreme Court’s recent opinion, which reasonably addresses the needs of all concerned, is an important step in that direction. With an important legal issue resolved, we can appear before the state engineer to once more demonstrate the importance of this renewable water supply to the people of Southern Nevada.

A critical fundamental element for our community to be able to regain its economic vitality, and to protect the health and safety of all our families, is a secure water supply. Our facilities and diversity of resources have to be able to withstand even the most devastating of droughts.

As we continue to hold your safety and your health as our highest priorities, we thank you for answering our call for water efficiency. Your efforts have made all the difference. Regardless of the various comparisons that some may make about our community and others around the country, when it comes to water conservation, you lead the nation.