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<br />High Country News -- Printable -- February 21, 1994: Las Vegas wheels and deals for Co... Page 5 of6 <br /> <br />Arizona is her most obvious target, given the financial trouble of the Central Arizona <br />Project. But California also uses an enormous amount of Colorado River water for <br />agriculture. And even high-value crops in California can't compete with urban uses when it <br />comes to water. <br /> <br />Mulroy laid out her strategy for negotiating with other lower basin states at recent hearings <br />before the Nevada state engineer on the Southern Nevada Water Authority's applications for <br />water in the Virgin River (HCN, 12/14/92). This river originates in southwestern Utah, and <br />flows through the northwestern corner of Arizona and into Nevada, where it joins the <br />Colorado River in Lake Mead. <br /> <br />The Virgin River is not part ofthe Colorado River Compact or any other interstate <br />agreement. Nevada, therefore, claims that the Virgin's water is up for grabs by whoever can <br />first develop it. <br /> <br />On paper, the agency's development plans call for building a dam and reservoir near <br />Mesquite, Nev., and a pipeline to Las Vegas. Under the current law of the Colorado River, <br />Mulroy says, Las Vegas must take the water before it enters Lake Mead and becomes part of <br />the Colorado River. <br /> <br />But the Southern Nevada Water Authority doesn't really want to build the dam and pipeline <br />just to fulfill that technicality. She says the agency would rather let the river flow into Lake <br />Mead and take the water from there. Environmentalists, who oppose the damage that dam, <br />reservoir and pipeline would cause, also favor letting the water flow into Lake Mead. <br /> <br />That, however, would require loosening the "law ofthe river" to allow "wheeling" water <br />through Lake Mead. And that is the prize that Las Vegas is really playing for, says Mulroy. <br />"The Virgin is the linchpin to the rest of the Colorado River." <br /> <br />Getting more water through Lake Mead, including water from the Virgin River, will require <br />negotiations with Utah and Arizona, says Mulroy, and agreement :from other states, <br />especially California, which holds priority rights on the lower Colorado by virtue of a 1963 <br />Supreme Court ruling. So far, officials in those states have been reluctant to let Las Vegas <br />push too far too fast. <br /> <br />Mulroy says approval of the Virgin River applications for a dam and pipeline, expected <br />from the Nevada state engineer later this year, is a necessary step to strengthen Nevada <br />when it comes time to negotiate with the other states. Having united her southern Nevada <br />power base, having placated most of her opponents in state, and having found a common <br />agenda with other urban centers and the Bureau of Reclamation, Mulroy is confident it can <br />be done. <br /> <br />"The preparatory pieces are in place," she says. "Now we'll push hard to move forward." <br />She predicts that changes on the lower Colorado will move quickly this year and <br />negotiations with other states will get under way. Las Vegas will be a "driver" of change, <br />she vows. But, she adds, the new water regime must be ready by the year 2000. <br /> <br />"You can't take a community as thriving as this one and put a stop sign out there," Mulroy <br />warns. "The train will run right over you." <br /> <br />http://www.hcn.org/servletslhcn.PrintableArticle?article _ id= 118 <br /> <br />9/12/2006 <br />