Friday, January 17, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

WESTERN DROUGHT: Water restrictions likely

Cutbacks on lawn watering, turf limitations in yards proposed

This is a view of golf courses surrounding Lake Las Vegas. Under a drought plan that the Southern Nevada Water Authority board will consider next week, courses would be required to stick to a water-use budget, and some could face severe fines. The measures are being triggered by a drought on the upper Colorado River that has reduced flows into Lake Mead, shown in the background. Photo by Jeff Scheid.

Southern Nevadans probably will see a series of water restrictions this summer, including cutbacks on lawn watering and turf limitations in their yards, Southern Nevada Water Authority officials said Thursday.

Some golf courses could also get hit with big fines if they don't reduce irrigation.

The reason: The severity of the ongoing drought in the upper reaches of the Colorado River.

The proposals come on the heels of a political impasse in California that so far has cost Nevada its surplus river water.

"This is about as ugly as it gets on the Colorado River," Southern Nevada Water Authority General Manager Pat Mulroy said Thursday at a special meeting of the authority's board.

A drought plan the board will consider next week calls for restricting daytime lawn watering from May through August. It would allow watering only every other day in September and October; once per week from November through February; and every other day in March and April.

Ken Albright, the authority's resources director, said he expects the various city entities and districts in the valley that fall under the board's jurisdiction will increase water rates for customers in June, but he said it is unclear how much the surcharges will be.

"I don't have that answer. There are numerous tiers. I don't think you can raise the rates a nickel and get 5 percent" back in the level of water conservation, he said.

Enforcing the drought plan is also going to be difficult.

"We're continuing to work with the entities to figure out the enforcement of this," Albright said. "No doubt, we can't go out and police 1.4 million people. It's impossible."

Regardless of whether California water agencies reach an agreement this year that would free up 30,000 acre-feet of surplus water that Nevada could take from Lake Mead, Mulroy said stringent water conservation measures will be required to get the Las Vegas Valley through the drought in the Rocky Mountains that has greatly reduced the amount of Colorado River water that fills the lake.

An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons, or enough water to meet the needs of an average Las Vegas Valley family of five for a year.

An order from Interior Secretary Gale Norton to halt all surplus withdrawals from the river took effect on Jan. 1 after the Imperial Irrigation District failed to reach a settlement agreement with other water agencies in Southern California over transferring some agricultural water for domestic use and developing an environmental plan to protect the Salton Sea.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority board is expected to vote next week on a local plan that will set conservation requirements for what officials are calling "drought watch" and "drought alert" conditions. Also, a citizens advisory committee will be appointed at the Thursday meeting to craft requirements for a "drought emergency," which would be triggered if Lake Mead's level falls below the 1,125-foot elevation mark.

The lake's surface level currently stands at 1,152 feet, but it is expected to drop to below the 1,145-foot mark by early next year. That would trigger a "drought alert" under the plan the board will consider.

"I think we need to change our behavior and set an example. We can't be the water wasters of the West and expect cooperation from other states," said Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid, who is a member of the water authority board.

Similar water conservation measures were enacted this week in Denver. Officials there halted watering of athletic fields and parks and are requiring four public golf courses to shut down through March 1, said Southern Nevada Water Authority spokesman Vince Alberta.

"The projection is they're going to lose 7 percent in annual revenues," Alberta said about the Denver golf courses targeted for temporary shutdown.

"The drought is on our doorstep and sacrifices are going to have to be made, and this community is going to have to embrace water conservation as an ethic and a way of life," he said.

Both Reid and Clark County Commissioner Myrna Williams, who is also on the water authority board, said they doubt that any of the approximately 50 Las Vegas Valley golf courses will face such serious consequences.

But the plan that will be considered calls for golf courses to budget their water use or face stiff fines even under the less severe "drought watch" condition if heavy users fail to reduce consumption.

Water authority officials envision saving 5 percent of the water currently used by homeowners, businesses, casinos and public entities through water conservation measures in the draft plan.

Golf courses would be put in a category that mandates their water use be budgeted. That means they would be limited to 7 acre-feet of water per irrigated acre. About one-third of the valley's golf courses exceed that limit.

Under a "drought watch," a golf course that exceeds its water budget and fails to reduce its irrigation, for example, by 39,102,000 gallons per year would be fined $177,523, Albright said.

If a golf course goes 20 percent over its water budget, that would increase its water bill by 60 percent, he said. Under a "drought alert," the penalty would be more severe under the proposal.

A "drought alert" also would mean the Bureau of Reclamation wouldn't allow delivery of 15,000 acre-feet or half of Nevada's traditional annual surplus withdrawal, even if the ban on surplus water is lifted.

A "drought emergency" would mean Nevada will be restricted to its basic, 300,000 acre-foot allotment with no surplus.

Proposals for turf restrictions are preliminary. Under a "drought alert," no new turf would be allowed in front yards. Under the "drought watch," no ornamental turf would be allowed in new nonresidential development.

The draft drought plan was developed by the water authority staff in consultation with stakeholders, other water agencies, homeowners and focus groups. In all, 112 stakeholders were interviewed between June and October.

Albright said golf course representatives participated in the talks and agreed to be the only category for budgeted water use.

"They understood they're the test case," he said, adding, "I fully expect to take a look at other classifications" such as casinos and large property owners.