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em: ~y: ~lii ~wan ~OnSUicln~ ~erV1CeS; 4BU 941 B5bB; Dec-23-02 12:27PM; Fight over Colorado River has divided West for decades - 12/22/02 - NCTimes.net Page 7/14 Pagelot , So, absent a last-minute resolution, California, instead of cutting back a little at a time, is bracing for a "hard landing" Jan. 1 as Interior Secretary Gale Norton prepares to abruptly cut the state's annual allocation by 800,000 acre-feet --enough to slake the thirst of6 million city dwellers. And upon cities is where the cut will fall, Up to Metropolitan Norton last week said all of the reduction will have to be absorbed by Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District because other agencies have higher priorities. Metropolitan is a huge water wholesaler that distributes wirer to communities throughout the coastal region of Southern California, including San Diego and Riverside counties. Ironically, San Diego County, which would have gained from the reliable supply the transfer would have provided, could fare worse than other counties in the aftennath of not being able to complete the deal. San Diego is Metropolitan's biggest customer, buying more than a quarter of district water. But the county only has rights to half of what it buys, which is particularly discomforting given San Diego's few alternatives to faU back on, Still, the other states aren't exactly sympathetic about C81ifomia's discomfort, with the widespread drought triggering a temporary watering ban in Denver and a permanent ban on artificial lakes in Las Vegas. Point and shoot Heck, said Herb Guenther, director of the Arizona Depirtment of Water Resources and fonner chairman of a Senate water committee. Arizonans would just as soon put Arizona National Guard troops out on the river to prevent California from using more than its share any longer. "The prevailing attitude is, 'It's ours. Irs been adjudicated by the Supreme Court. And we need it. If it's not yours,. don't steal it, by God, and if you do we're going to shoot you,'" Guenther 8ai d. "California's had a right to use that extra water all these years," said David Donnelly, retired deputy general manager for the Southern Nevada Water Authority, "But you knew the day was coming when you could no longer use it. And that day is here, II DonneHy said. His agency supplies water to Las Vegas, where developers face severe golf course turf restrictions and residents receive "cash for grass" they rip out of yards. He said residents understand tbe rules when they look up at the white "bathtub rings" on the rocks above Lake Mead, which is at its lowest level in a half century' or so. But they don't understand why Califo11lia can continue using more than its share of the river, DonneHy said. Irresponsibility http://www.nctimes.netlnews/2002l20021222111111.html 12123/2002