Key river issues spur boost in CRC budget

The Colorado River Commission plans to spend almost four times the amount it spent this year on out-of-state travel to handle endangered species, water and hydropower issues.

The Colorado River Commission acts as a liason between Nevada and the federal government on water and power issues concerning the Colorado River.

Out-of-state travel will cost the commission an estimated $37,000 this year. It expects to spend more than $136,000 next year.

The commission approved a $3.8 million 1999 budget this week after Chairman Richard Bunker said that he has not and would not accept even $1 from the CRC budget.

"I want our customers to know I pay for my own travel," said Bunker, who is the executive director of the Nevada Resort Association.

But for 10 CRC staff members, the travel budget covers up to 250 trips a year to deal with endangered species such as the Southwest willow flycatcher and the Yuma clapper rail -- both birds threatened by high waters on the Colorado River, as well as complex water and power allocations on the river.

Of seven western states, Nevada receives the least amount from the river at 300,000-acre-feet a year. Yet the state needs representatives at these critical meetings as Southern Nevada seeks more water and power sales are deregulated, Bunker said.

The commission amended the budget to include $218,000 for finding and leasing new office space. The CRC is expected to leave the Grant Sawyer State Office Building at Washington Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard North in about a year.

The CRC tabled a cooperative agreement with the Southern Nevada Water Authority at the SNWA's request.

The commission and the water authority decided to work together in an effort to reduce the $25 million annual power bill for pumping water two miles uphill into the Las Vegas Valley.

CRC Vice Chairman Jay Bingham said he was concerned about the commission's liability and its ability to deliver power at reasonable rates to the water authority. Most of CRC's power deals involve hydropower sales from Hoover and Parker-Davis dams. In this case, the CRC will hunt for inexpensive power specifically for the water authority.

"The question is our ability to go out on the market and make appropriate deals," Bunker said. The water authority hopes to have cheaper electricity lined up by February.

The water authority has doubled its ability to deliver water, so its power bill could soar in the next year.

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