Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

The big yawn: Water crisis not registering as a priority with Californians, Preview Las Vegas panelist says

Drought Lake Mead

John Locher / AP

A man walks by a formerly sunken boat standing upright into the air with its stern buried in the mud along the shoreline of Lake Mead amid a drought at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area near Boulder City on June 22, 2022.

Nov. 2022: Lake Mead Water Levels

A previously submerged boat is now adjacent to a road in the Government Wash area of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022. Launch slideshow »

Las Vegans are constantly reminded about the crisis facing Nevada and other Western states as water supplies from the drought-choked Colorado River system dwindle.

Ads prompting us to conserve water are front and center at sporting events, on commercials during our favorite television shows and when picking up the daily newspaper. We’ve been diligent in removing natural grass and replacing it with artificial turf, limiting the size of our pools and watering plants only on assigned days.

And, of course, the biggest reminder is something many of us frequently drive by: the decreasing water levels at Lake Mead, witnessed by a bath-tub ring showing where the water previously reached.

But in California, one of the seven states along with Mexico that shares water rights from the Colorado River, dealing with the crisis isn’t a top priority for residents and lawmakers, said Jeff Kightlinger, the acting general manager of Pasadena Water and Power and the former general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

Kightlinger was blunt Monday when speaking on a panel about the water crisis during Preview Las Vegas, the Vegas Chamber’s annual economic forecasting event at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Californians, especially those in the urban core, are worried about crime, education and more, or as Kightlinger said: “In the top 10 issues they are dealing with, their concern with water is No. 37,” he said during discussion with water leaders from throughout the region.

The U.S. Department of the Interior in August announced Nevada would lose 8% of its water allotment from the Colorado River in 2023 amid the continuing drought. Arizona will see a 21% reduction in its allocation. Mexico will take a 7% cut. Federal officials required no water savings contribution for California, which uses the vast majority of its allotment to aid its thriving agricultural sector.

The West is mired in a two-decade drought that is leaving less water flowing through the Colorado and its tributaries. The result is depleted reservoirs that store the water that allows the West to thrive. Lake Mead — one of four reservoirs on the Colorado — is operating at 28% capacity.

Scorching temperatures and less snow melt in the spring have reduced the amount of water flowing from the Rocky Mountains, where the river originates before it snakes 1,450 miles southwest and into the Gulf of California. Some 40 million people from Denver to Mexico, including many farmers, depend on the Colorado for water.

The Department of the Interior, when announcing the cuts, also asked the states to work together to consider further conservation measures. That fast-approaching deadline to agree on further cuts is Jan. 31.

The negotiations on voluntary cutbacks have been difficult, panel members indicated. The group at the chamber’s event also included: John Entsminger, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority; Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources; and Bruce Babbitt, former secretary of the interior from 1993 to 2001. The panel was hosted by Pat Mulroy, an international leader in the water community who was formerly the general managing of the Southern Nevada Water Authority and currently is the senior fellow for climate adaptation and environmental policy at the UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law.

“I remain optimistic that ultimately the states are going to come up with a plan,” Entsminger told the Sun after the presentation. “But that’s why it’s always kind of a parallel process; we have to have a plan to take care of ourselves in Nevada, and we do, and we’re implementing that plan.”

Even though reservoirs are nearing dangerously low levels, Nevadans wouldn’t notice a difference if the river “dead-pooled” — meaning it would no longer flow past Hoover Dam.

That’s because the water authority has invested $1.3 billion to build intake and low-level pumping stations to continue delivering water should the “dead pool” scenario arise. The lake’s elevation is about 1,047 feet and would need to decrease to 895 feet for dead pool status.

“It’s kind of a 24/7 job, but I sleep well at night because I think we have a plan,” Entsminger said.“I think our community’s in good shape and it’s going to continue to stay in that shape.”

Southern Nevada is taking the lead.

In a Dec. 20 letter to Tanya Trujillo, assistant secretary for water and science at the U.S. Department of the Interior, the authority detailed plans for states to cut use by 2 million to 4 million acre-feet. Proposals in the 13-page letter include: Arizona, California and Nevada, the so-called Lower Basin states, reducing by 1.5 million acre-feet; continued releases from reservoirs upstream of Lake Powell, the nearest reservoir upstream from Lake Mead; and cuts of 500,000 acre-feet by Upper Basin states Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

Nevada’s pitch is simply a proposal and other states have to agree. There will be plenty of back and forth, especially from California, which receives 58% — about 4.4 million acre-feet per year. Kightlinger said 75% of the allotment is for agricultural purposes.

“It’s proactive. At least someone is putting something out there,” Kightlinger told the Sun after the panel. “California shouldn’t be (making the proposal), in my opinion. Arizona should be doing things like that. And, to be frank, the United States Department of Interior should be putting things out there. Somebody had to get the ball rolling, so I appreciate that Nevada did.”

The current regulations don’t expire until 2026, but an agreement on cuts needs to occur sooner because water levels continue to go lower.

And that’s exactly why Nevada took the lead, Entsminger said.

“We’ve been working on pieces of this for a couple of years now,” he said.

Buschatzke of Arizona told the audience that some business leaders in Arizona have expressed concern that the water cuts could negatively affect the state’s economy.

Entsminger told the Sun the opposite is happening in Southern Nevada. The business community — like residents — has been all-in on conservation.

“Las Vegas is the most water secure city in the Desert Southwest,” he said. “The infrastructure we’ve built with the conservation plans we’ve put in place, we’re going to be able to serve water to our citizens under any scenario.”

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.