Friday, March 14, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt says a deal to bank Colorado River water for Southern Nevada in Arizona's ground could be announced by December.
Babbitt, who has been talking to suppliers up and down the seven states sharing the Colorado's waters, hinted during a taped television interview that he may announce an agreement during a convention in Las Vegas later this year.
Appearing on "Eye on Washington," airing at 10 a.m. Sunday on KTNV Channel 13, Babbitt said the issue became critical when California exceeded its 4.4 million acre-foot share of the river's water for the first time in 1996.
The river's other six states, including Nevada and Arizona, warned California to cut its reliance on the Colorado or face a federal petition asking the Interior secretary not to declare surpluses on the river. The Colorado is flowing so high this year that Lake Mead could rise nearly 20 feet by December.
"I think California would readily admit it overshot its allocation," Babbitt said on the program that watches Nevada issues in the nation's capital and is produced and hosted by Marilee Joyce.
If California continues to work out a solution by conserving and storing its water, especially the agricultural share going to Imperial Valley, then water banking between Nevada and Arizona may begin within a year, he said.
"There's plenty of water in that river," Babbitt said. The users have to find ways to market and store the supply. "It's not a question of running out of water, it's a question of uses."
If Nevada can store the river's water in Arizona and draw on it during Western droughts, the Las Vegas Valley can meet its needs until the year 2030, Southern Nevada Water Authority General Manager Pat Mulroy said. Nevada receives 300,000 acre-feet of Colorado water a year.
An acre-foot of water is enough to serve a family of four for a year.
Under the banking plan, Nevada could store up to 100,000 acre-feet a year, 60,000 acre-feet of its own unused water and 40,000 acre-feet unused from other states.
"I think it's an idea whose time has come," Babbitt said.
Appearing on the same program, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., agrees with Babbitt's approach to the water bank.
The senator urged Babbitt to offer regulations to encourage banking on the river.
In addition, Reid said he plans to ask Congress to allocate funds to desalinate shallow groundwater for Southern Nevada's use. The federal government would pay for half the cost of the pilot project estimated at $23 million.
To allow Nevada to reuse water, Reid said he has proposed a funding package for 25 percent federal monies to help pay the $55 million tab for future reuse projects in Henderson, the east valley and the northwest.
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