Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Calif. governor drains water deal to aid LV

Millions of gallons of Colorado River water won't come to Las Vegas from the Los Angeles Metropolitan Water District after all.

The Southern California water supplier pulled the plug on a deal that would have delivered 30,000 acre-feet of water a year to Las Vegas after California Gov. Pete Wilson objected to a local entity negotiating the issue.

When MWD and the Southern Nevada Water Authority struck the deal in December to supply water in exchange for funds to rebuild the All American Canal, alarms went off in California and Arizona.

Wilson warned MWD in January it was "usurping the authority of the state." Negotiating surplus water from the Colorado or any other matters dealing with water or power is normally done through a state commission.

MWD General Manager John Wodraska told a California Assembly panel earlier this month that the agreement with Nevada was off the table. "We took a lot of heat," he said. "The perception was that we were taking water from Northern California and making it available to Las Vegas. That was never the case."

In fact, Southern Nevada water officials don't see the latest development as a major setback for getting more water to rapidly growing Las Vegas.

"We've been told California is still interested in helping Nevada with its water problems," said David Donnelly, deputy general manager for engineering and operations at the Southern Nevada Water Authority. "So we don't view this negatively at all."

Under the scrapped agreement, California and Nevada would have shared the $120 million cost of lining the canal leading to Southern California's Imperial Valley, and saving 67,700 acre-feet a year.

Donnelly said the canal lining was not as important for Nevada as negotiating an interstate agreement and receiving a larger share of the surplus river water year to year.

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, who would have to approve any water-sharing agreement, said the plan could help produce cooperation. But he did not endorse the Nevada-California pact or any other water proposal.

Arizona Gov. Fife Symington opposed the proposal from the beginning, saying he was excluded from the talks that could tap into his state's share of the Colorado.

Under a 1922 law, Nevada gets 300,000 acre-feet from the Colorado annually, while California gets 4.4 million acre-feet and Arizona receives 2.8 million acre-feet. Nevada is close to maxing out on its use, while Arizona isn't expected to reach capacity for 35 years.

An acre-foot is roughly enough water to serve a family of four for a year.

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