Saturday, October 04, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Longtime logjam ends on water deal

Nevada's surplus likely to be reinstated after California district OKs shifting of supply

Boat watchers sit Friday along the docks of Lake Mead Marina. Water levels at the drought-stricken lake have fallen steadily over the past few years and could fall for 15 years more under a water-sharing deal subject to final approval next week. Photo by John Locher.

Water levels at drought-stricken Lake Mead could drop an additional 2 feet annually over the next 15 years under a deal that would transfer much of California farmers' Colorado River water to the Los Angeles and San Diego areas.

The agreement, reached after seven years of contentious talks, is scheduled to be signed next week and would pave the way for federal officials to reinstate Southern Nevada's surplus haul from the river.

Earlier this year, Interior Secretary Gale Norton suspended that additional take, as well as California's extra water, as the talks stalled.

The remaining hurdle to a water deal was removed late Thursday when the Imperial Irrigation District's board of directors approved the plan.

That move heartened Southern Nevada water officials, who have bemoaned the lost surplus that is crucial to future growth and economic development in the region.

Construction is Southern Nevada's second-largest employer, generating an estimated 81,500 direct jobs. An even larger share of the region's economy is predicated on the continued flow of Colorado River water, which provides 90 percent of Southern Nevada's water.

"The secretary will move pretty expeditiously to get the surplus reinstated. There's no doubt in my mind," said Southern Nevada Water Authority General Manager Pat Mulroy. "I was so pleased (Thursday) night when they approved it."

Mulroy said she believes Norton might reinstate Nevada's surplus by the end of the year, although Assistant Interior Secretary Bennett Raley declined to discuss the issue Friday afternoon.

"We're not making any comments on the record right now," said Raley, a key player in the Southern California water talks.

In the past, Raley said his boss would act quickly to reinstate the Nevada surplus once Californians reached agreement in their talks.

Federal officials have watched as booming urban and suburban growth in Southern California and Southern Nevada has increased the demands on the Colorado River, which is in the midst of a record drought.

A year ago, California took 800,000 acre-feet of water beyond its allotment, by the terms of a 1922 agreement signed by the seven states of the Colorado River basin. Nevada exceeded its agreed-upon share with a surplus of nearly 25,000 acre-feet.

An acre-foot of water, or 325,851 gallons, meets the annual needs of an average family of four.

A reinstated surplus could see the lake drop 1 to 2 feet annually over the coming 15 years, noted Bob Walsh, a spokesman for the Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the lower Colorado River basin, including Lake Mead. Increased conservation and rainfall could help stem that decline.

The water authority's Mulroy said she is hopeful that the public's response to recently imposed watering restrictions throughout much of Southern Nevada will decrease the local demand for water.

Her agency is continuing to calculate the early effect of the restrictions, which have limited residential lawn watering to no more than four days a week during the fall and have led to the shutdown of numerous fountains.

"The community seems to have responded," she said. "Those demands have changed with the conservation measures."

Imperial Valley farmers have balked at past water-transfer proposals, fearing the region's agricultural base would be sacrificed to meet the needs of Los Angeles, San Diego and Palm Springs.

The agricultural area 90 miles east of San Diego, along the U.S.-Mexico border, supplies one-seventh of the nation's winter vegetable crop and generates yearly farm revenues of more than $1.2 billion. It uses nearly 70 percent of California's 4.4-million acre-foot allotment from the Colorado River, a legacy to the region's agricultural roots of the early 20th century.

"In the Imperial Valley, everybody looks at the outside with a great deal of suspicion and distrust, and the sense is somebody's always trying to take the water from us," said Sue Giller, a spokeswoman for the Imperial Irrigation District. "For people who are growing stuff, that is our economic (engine); it's very difficult to watch that change."

The San Diego County Water Authority, Southern California's Metropolitan Water District and Palm Springs' Coachella Valley Water District will pay as much as $258 per acre-foot for the transferred water, which costs farmers about $16 an acre-foot. Giller says much of that money will pay for the cost of the transfer.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority pays 50 cents an acre-foot to the Bureau of Reclamation for Lake Mead water.

In recent months, Norton and her top aides have leaned on California policy makers to strike an agreement. Otherwise, Norton had threatened to divvy up the water herself. Mulroy and a mix of key political and business figures from Nevada also have pushed their California counterparts to reach agreement on the water transfer.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., delivered Nevada's support for a deal to Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who along with their aides periodically spoke with key players at the four California water agencies involved in the talks.

The negotiations plodded along as Lake Mead, which was formed by the damming of the Colorado, fell to 60 percent of capacity, or 1,142 feet above sea level. The lake is full when its surface sits at 1,221 feet above sea level.

Despite widespread optimism over the California water deal, Giller and others were somewhat skittish.

There was talk of potential lawsuits by environmental and farming interests who oppose the agreement and of worries that a last-minute deal breaker could arise among the agencies that negotiated it.

"Could something happen?" Giller asked. "I don't want to say there's not a chance for anything. God knows there is always is, but at this point they're looking forward to the signing."