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C'J ;,."., co "-Jonday, December 11, 1995 .' THE DENVER P(Y.)T -: Las Vegas. satisfies thirst for water c WATER CHIEF ~ A TEA from Page 1 A 5 million. : Those shares were dealt in 1922 \I'hen Nevada was empty. But with 5,000 people flooding into Las Vegas every month,theclty Ilnd its suburbs expected to run out of pumping ca- pacity in 2005 and be fJat out of wa- 1<>tJn2030. Las Vegas considered a number of rilids. Colorado's Roan Creek, Neva- dnranchwatcrandadamonthcVir- gin River were three proposals that drew ire. But the gambling mecca is finding .mtter by cooperating with its neigh- bors whllcsprllcing up its image asa profligate city of tropical waterfalls and pirate ships afloat in warm la- goons. The first deal put Las Vegas in a waterbed with its old archrival,Cali- fornia. Las Vegas funded a new computer model of the river's flow and found there is still unused water available, enough for 600,000 famllies. If the t:hzreau of Reclamation will run its 'dams a Iitt!e less conservaUvely, that water becomes available for growth. The new partners agreed to divvy tip water owned by Arizona, but not yet used by slower-growing Phoenix and Flagstaff. Arizona Gov. Fife Sy. mington has vowed to fight Mulroy, who has been labeled bv some Arizo- nlln~ as the "water witch of the West." , That arrangement would give Las Vegas water for 60,000 more families 'IJntil the year 2030. But it must be ~pproved by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, who favors thcconcept. , "This is a new chapter on the riv- er," Babbitt said in Las Vegas last week. "IfCallfornla and Nevada can agree, who's going to second-guess that?" But he said he would not approve it until concerns are allayed in Colora- do, Wyoming and other parts of Cali- fornia, The most concrete agreement be- tween California and Nevada would pave the All-American Canal - a huge waterway running through sand dunes to farms in California's Imperi. al Valley, For its money, Las Vegas wiJI get half the water that now leaks into the ground. That water will be "banked" be- hind Hoover Dam in Lake Mead ~'hereitiscompounded,notunlikein' terest, by the amount Las Vegas flushes through toilets back into the lake, Bottom !Jne: enough water lor 54,000 lamilies gathering "interest" year after year until Arizona takes ba'Ckitsshare. By Mulroy's reckoning, those two actions should take care of Lag VI." ga!;' growth for a century. But, with r.artner California, she Is talking sim- lIar deals with tbe state 01 Utah, 10 riverside Indian tribes and corporate farrn~ in California's Imperial Valley thal could get better cash flow from wall'f lhan from lettuce. Mulroy said she is not talking to anyone in Colorado or Wyoming, in. eluding the Ute tribes. All have un- llsl'd w<lterbut are nolyet ready to ('lit the kind of deals negotiated by MuJroyandSouthernCalilornia'sncw Joe Monscvltz, director of the Southern Ne- vada Water System, sur- veys opera- tions at a Lake Mead water treatment plant, The Denver Post I Sha,,mStanley watercza(,John Wodraska. This pair is from a dlfferenfg(iner- alion than the venerable "water buf- falo" in tbe seven river-touched states who jealously guarded their 1922 sharesln the lace of a changing Southwest. Their old "Law of the Riv. er" didn't account lor huge desert cit. ies or morE gamblers than farmers. "Why shluld a projection made in the 1920s ~ held In perpetuity?" said Mulroy. "I don't think we can enter the new c61tury without a new cul- ture on tharlver." Like bo~iners belore her in Los An- geles and phoenix, Mulroy has per- suaded de'kJopers, poUtlclans and ca- sinos to be/Jy up for pumps and pipes - some $1,7 billion over the next 20 years, I Next mcnth, homeowner water bills in Las Vegls will go up 17 percent. The price for a family using 20,000 gallons a month 11"1 be $1.92 per 1,000 gallons, about 84 Ctllts more per 1,000 gallons than in DelVer. But nearly 80 percent of the cost 01 the expandng system will be paid by growth. A new home connection will jump tram $840 to $3,340, A new ca- sino or gO:f course connection will double to $262,000. Atthell1ragecaslno-famousfor its fJamint volcano, waterfalls and Treasure Illand lagoon where pirate ships battl~ and sink - the monthly water bill:wilJ rise lrom $46,127 to $60,005, The Mirage's features, frequently pictured III an example of waste, arc, In laet, wa1ered with recycJed shower water and:bracklsh groundwater that would oUerwise flood an under- ground garage, The water is put through a1$5 million reverse-osmosis. filter. N~rly 25 mllllon gallons 01 nearly pufe water lills the lagoon and the volcalo each year. "Casin$ are leading the way," said MulroY.'They pay more than their fair shart, and are doing more than lhcirfalrshare." WIJilcLas Vegas casinos use 8 per- cent o(tllc city's water -(or show- ers and loilet5, most 01 which flows back into Lake Mead - the largest single u~isforlawns. "If yo~ stopped irrigation, we could have water forever," said Joe Mon- scvitz, who runs the Lake Mead 11'1'1' ter treatment system. Yet the Las Vegas VaHey Water District, like all Western water enti- tles,seesitsroleasmeetlngdemand, not managing growth. "We have this perception that we're second-class citizens, that we're all tied to the mob and that we don't deserve water," said Mulroy. Yet, sbe notes, all around the city the federal government is allowing land trades for development. As lor Symington's suggestion that Las Vegas conserve or stop growing, Mulroy swings back: "Let me ask you thls: Is it a wise use to move all that water to Arizona (In an open canal, the Central Arizona Project) and evaporate more than Las Vegas uses in a year?" Founded around a natural oasis, Las Vegas initially used deep wells In the Meadows area near downtown. In 1950, the population was only 50,000 people. Since then, the size of its wa. ter plant has mirrored the city's pop. ulation. The fIrst plant on Lake Mead in 1971 treated 200 million gallons a day. WHhin six years, it was doubled. By 1997, the capacity wlJl be 600 million gallons, and by the turn of the century the second straw in the lake will be sucking 750 milliongalJons, Said treatment boss Monscvilz: "We're barely staying ahead."