Friday, September 16, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Water authority to buy river land from Scouts

Purchase of 15 acres for $920,000 part of state's responsibility to species conservation program along the Colorado

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The Southern Nevada Water Authority's latest property acquisition is for the birds. It's also for the fish and the mice.

The water authority board voted unanimously Thursday to spend $920,000 on 15 acres of riverfront property south of Laughlin as part of Nevada's contribution to the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program.

The pizza-slice-shaped parcel just across the river from Bullhead City, Ariz., will be preserved as natural habitat for the flannelmouth sucker fish, the desert pocketmouse and a dozen bird species covered by the conservation initiative.

"It's one of the few pieces in Nevada, maybe the best piece, that can be used for mitigation under the (conservation program)," said Dick Wimmer, the water authority's deputy general manager. "It's right on the bend of the river, with lots of natural habitat already in place."

The conservation program, which was signed by water officials and federal agency chiefs in April, is expected to cost up to $626 million over 50 years.

The program provides protection for sensitive plants and animals along more than 400 miles of the river, from the western end of the Grand Canyon to the U.S.-Mexico border.

The program allows future water transfers among Nevada, Arizona and California.

The water authority hopes the land purchase will count against the $54.8 million it must pay over the next 50 years as part of Nevada's $78.3 million share of the conservation program.

The authority is buying the property from the Las Vegas Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. The property is surrounded by state land and could be folded into a state park along the Colorado, Wimmer said.

"It's a wonderful piece of property that, for our purposes, just wasn't feasible for us to use anymore," said Phil Bevins, who leads the Las Vegas Area Council.

The land, known to Scouts as Griffith Canoe Base, served as a campground and aquatic facility until about 10 years ago, when it was closed because of declining use.

Deed restrictions kept the Boy Scouts from selling the land before, Bevins said. "Without those restrictions I suppose there could have been some high-rise condominiums on the property with a much higher value."

With the purchase price, the authority will get the rights to 10 acre-feet a year of Colorado River water, enough to supply almost 20 Las Vegas Valley households.

The authority already is using the 10 acre-feet under an agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, but now the water will become a permanent part of what Wimmer called "our water portfolio."

Excluding the cost of the water rights, the authority is paying about $54,700 an acre for the property. At a federal land auction in June, a 40-acre parcel in nearby Laughlin sold to a developer for about $120,000 an acre.

Bevins said the Boy Scouts are pleased that their old property will be preserved in its natural state.

Environmentalist Kara Gillon is happy about that, too, but she still has some concerns about the conservation program as a whole.

"Certainly, more habitat needs to be protected. That's a step in the right direction," said Gillon, staff attorney for Washington, D.C.-based Defenders of Wildlife. "Our concern is that the program does not address the threats to these species."

The threats include the loss of habitat, the introduction of non-native species and altered river conditions caused by dam operations.

Instead of addressing those threats, Gillon said, the conservation program leans too heavily on stocking the river with more native fish and building artificial habitat for them.

"There is a concern that you're just throwing more fish in there to be eaten by non-native fish. You're doing just enough to keep them alive," Gillon said.