Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2006 | 8:01 a.m.
After three years of continuous decline in water use, Southern Nevada used more water last year than the year before.
Faced with that worrisome change, the agency that brings up the region's water from Lake Mead hopes that a discussion on conservation measures will help stem the tide.
Southern Nevada Water Authority's staff reported last week that the region used 476,857 acre-feet in 2005, up about 10,000 acre-feet from 2004's consumption level.
An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons -- typically enough for almost two families in the Las Vegas Valley for one year.
Kay Brothers, Water Authority deputy general manager, attributed the increase to several factors, including a local population growing by about 6,000 people monthly and the fact that much of last year was warmer and drier than the year before.
"The number is higher, there's no question, but that's because the conditions were different," she said.
Brothers said the net consumption, however, remained about the same from the year before because the region was able to recover more "return flow credits" from Lake Mead. Water used indoors in Southern Nevada is cleaned and returned to Lake Mead, and every gallon that the agency puts back into the lake provides a credit for another gallon that can be used by the region.
"Even though we use more water, we didn't consume more water," Brothers said, noting that the increased water use was mostly indoors, which produces more return flow credits. "We're using less outside."
Nonetheless, General Manager Pat Mulroy has described the growth of water use as a concern, and an advisory group last year said the region should do more to conserve water.
Mulroy last year asked the board to set a date for a workshop to discuss conservation measures to respond to the issue.
Brothers said the goal of the workshop, set for Feb. 16, is not to develop or recommend new conservation measures, but will focus instead on making the "temporary" drought-response rules now in place permanent.
One area of concern, Brothers said, is that applications for converting thirsty live turf to low-water-use desert landscaping have fallen. The Water Authority rebates part of the cost of such conversion, typically at $1 per square foot for residential efforts.
In 2004, the Water Authority paid for the conversion of more than 34 million square feet of turf, according to the agency. In 2005, slightly more than 15 million square-feet were converted from grass, less than half the previous year's total.
Overall, the conversion program has turned almost 68 million square feet of grass into desert landscaping, saving 3.7 billion gallons of water annually.
The Water Authority and regional water distributors, including the Las Vegas Valley Water District, proposed and enacted the $1 per square foot rebate and other conservation measures as a response to years of drought that continue to threaten water supplies in the Colorado River.
The measures also included restrictions on the number of days a week that users could irrigate landscaping and higher water charges for users who consume relatively large amounts of the resource.
Although the Western drought appeared to break last winter, storage in lakes Mead and Powell, the river's primary reservoirs, is still only about half of what it was just six years ago.
The Integrated Water Planning Advisory Committee last year recommended further conservation efforts as a way to respond to Southern Nevada's continuing population boom and the resulting growing demand for water.
Each person in Clark County uses, on average, 272 gallons of water daily. The advisory group has recommended trimming that number to 250 by 2010 and 245 by 2035.
The Nevada state demographer's office projects that Clark County's 6,000-per-month population growth will continue for the next two decades, lifting the region's population by 2025 to 3.6 million, double its current level of 1.8 million.
Next month's workshop is not likely to spark the same objections that the existing conservation measures incited in 2003. Then, residents and some labor groups opposed restrictions on use, with many opponents suggesting that growth controls should be considered instead of water limitations.
The Water Authority, however, sponsored an outside study that suggested that curbs on growth would harm Las Vegas' economy.
The Water Authority first backed, then withdrew, a ban on water fountains at commercial properties, a ban on home car washing and restrictions on the use of outdoor "misters."
Officials at local water agencies have said the drought-response measures will need to become permanent as one step toward satisfying the growing demand for water.
One Las Vegas researcher suggested that population growth ultimately will outweigh conservation gains.
"The challenge has always been that growth has been so rapid that every positive outcome is outstripped by the new people," said Dale Devitt, a UNLV water researcher.
He said greater conservation should be a part of life in the desert. Too many people still arrive in Las Vegas hoping to have the expansive lawns and landscaping, for example, the Midwest.
"You have to keep the community focused," he said. "It's a paradigm shift. We need to bring the community back into balance with nature."
That paradigm shift will not be easy for everyone, though, Devitt said.
"Clearly to get the numbers down to where the district would like it to be, there will have to be some harder choices made," he said.
Launce Rake can be reached at 259-4127 or at [email protected].
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