Mulroy seeks to tap climate bill proceeds

WASHINGTON -- Southern Nevada's top water official on Friday recommended to Congress that some money the government plans to raise in a campaign against global warming should be steered into research and financing to upgrade water plants and pipelines.

"Water managers are on the front line of climate change. For us it is happening now," said Pat Mulroy, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority. "There is flooding in the Midwest, salt water encroachment into coastal aquifers, and drought in the Southeast."

In the West, she said, the seven states that share the Colorado River have seen water flows drop a cumulative 11.8 trillion gallons below average this decade.

A federal report this week stated that Lake Mead this summer is expected to drop to its lowest level in 44 years, nearing a trigger point for water use restrictions.

"If this drought continues, in three years Hoover Dam will cease generating electricity," she said. "My purpose today is not to induce alarm but rather to convey the magnitude of the situation."

Mulroy testified before the House energy and the environment subcommittee as it completed three days of hearings on a major climate change bill. The bill aims to lower the amounts of carbon that companies emit into the atmosphere by requiring them to buy permits for the pollution they create.

The permits can be bought, sold and traded among companies. The Obama administration estimates the cap-and-trade system would raise an estimated $646 billion. About $535 billion would be returned to taxpayers as tax cuts while the rest would fund clean energy strategies.

The bill is extremely controversial. Critics say it will raise energy costs and that it amounts to a new tax on businesses that will be passed on to consumers. Democrats hope to write the bill and have it debated on the House floor after Memorial Day.

The House subcommittee heard from 54 witnesses over three days, including former Vice President Al Gore, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson, and dozens of industry officials and environmental advocates. Mulroy was one of the final speakers Friday.

While the climate change bill focuses mainly on energy, "water and energy are inextricably linked and must be considered together," she said.

About 4 percent of the nation's energy is used to treat and deliver water, according to the Department of Energy.

Mulroy requested a small percentage of the cap-and-trade proceeds be spent on research to help water managers adapt to climate change. There are almost two dozen climate change models but none can predict warming impacts at the watershed level, she said.

She also recommended about 10 percent of the climate change funds be used to upgrade water infrastructure.

"These funds would be subject to repayment by municipal water agencies, which historically are among the country's most secure borrowers," she said.

Local agencies face "staggering" costs to keep water flowing, Mulroy said.

A new Lake Mead water intake being made necessary by the drought, for instance, will cost nearly $1 billion, Mulroy said, and that "is only one project in one community."

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetereault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.