9337

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9337
• Author: Colorado River Water Users Association.
• Title: The Colorado River of Many Returns.
• USFW Year: 2001.
• USFW - Doc Type: Coachella, California.
• Copyright Material: NO

NEVADA
Water has shaped the destiny of Southern Nevada and the American
West and it continues to do so. The growth in the area has been constant
from its inception in 1905. The sleepy little railroad town at the turn of
the century is now the fastest growing metropolitan area in the nation as
the millennium approaches.
As it was 50 years ago, the "fundamental problem" confronting
Las Vegas today is water. In an effort to regionally address water resource
management issues, the Southern Nevada Water Authority was formed in
1991. The member agencies are Boulder City, Big Bend Water District,
city of Henderson, city of Las Vegas, city of North Las Vegas, Clark County
Sanitation District and the Las Vegas Valley Water District.
Planning and developing additional reliable sources of water is an
important function of the authority. Through "return flow credits," the
authority receives credit for every gallon of wastewater that is treated and
returned to the Colorado River. Only water that enters the sewer system
earns these credits for more Colorado River water - specifically water
from showers, sinks, washing machines, dishwashers and other indoor
sources. "Return flow credits" have allowed the Southern Nevada Water
Authority to increase its diversions of Colorado River water by 184,000
acre-feet per year.
Another way the Southern Nevada Water Authority members are
able to manage the area's supply of fresh water is by reusing wastewater for
landscaping and irrigating golf courses. This reuse represents 22,000 acre-
feet per year. Groundwater, once the primary source of water for the Las
Vegas Valley, now supplies only 15 percent of the total water used. To
supplement the region's groundwater system and optimize its total water
resources, the authority implemented an artificial recharge program in
1987 of Colorado River water into the groundwater system. This process
calls for production wells to inject water into the ground during off-peak
winter months, when there is excess capacity in the transmission system
from Lake Mead. This water is "banked" in the valley's groundwater
system and helps ease the long-term decline in groundwater levels, as well
li -WEi a A 15
WHERE THE ACTION WAS - HEADOUARTERS OF THE LAS VEGAS LAND AND
WATER COMPANY, WHICH CONTROLLED WATER RESOURCES IN THE AREA FROM
1905 To 1954.
as augment Colorado River and groundwater resources to help meet future
demands. Together, these supplemental water resources - Colorado River
return flows, wastewater reuse and groundwater - increase the region's
available water supply by 255,000 acre-feet per year.
In 1993, Southern California Edison (SCE) transferred its
Colorado River water rights of 23,000 acre-feet per year to the Southern
Nevada Water Authority. The rights were vested with the authority, upon
the condition that the authority provide up to 19,000 acre-feet per year to
SCE through the year 2026. With return flow credits, an estimated 41,400
acre-feet per year of diversions eventually will be available to the authority.
Along similar lines, in 1994, Basic Management, Inc., located in the city of
Henderson, transferred an additional 26,100 acre-feet per year of Colorado
River water to the authority.
Although work is under way on expanding the Southern Nevada
Water System (SNWS), the Southern Nevada Water Authority is well
aware that its heavy reliance on one single system makes the water supply
vulnerable to failure from natural disasters, power outages and unforeseen
mechanical problems. A failure of a single pipeline or pumping station
would seriously impair the delivery of water to the Las Vegas Valley.
To address this potential future problem today, the Southern
Nevada Water Authority has launched an ambitious integrated resources
planning (IRP) effort and has sought input from a 21-member citizens

committee of community representatives on the best combination of
resources, conservation measures and facilities to meet the region's long-
term water needs. Commonly used in the energy industry, IRP is helping
to provide water and wastewater agencies with the comprehensive
information they need to make key planning decisions. In addition to
considering traditional planning issues such as least-cost planning and
engineering concerns, the IRP process considers conservation, facility
reliability, environmental impacts and public acceptability.
One of the proposals considered by the IRP Advisory Committee
is a new treatment and transmission facility (TTF). As a back-up system,
the TTF will allow the authority to meet critical peak demands during the
summer months, as well as protect the valley from potential SNWS failure.
Also, the TTF will provide a completely new and separate treatment and
transmission facility to move Colorado River water from Lake Mead to
customers in the Las Vegas Valley.
Water officials describe the TTF as a "second straw" in Lake
Mead. In addition, local, state and federal water officials believe that a
back-up system is absolutely necessary to reduce the region's reliability on
one system. Moreover, a back-up facility will allow the SNWS periodically
to be shut down for routine maintenance without jeopardizing the valley's
water supply.
Only a unified regional agency, charged with managing existing
resources and seeking additional water supplies, could preserve the
economic vitality that has placed Las Vegas in the international spotlight.
This approach, one of commitment and consensus, foreshadows what is
occurring throughout the Southwest.
The Colorado River Basin states, Indian tribes and the Bureau of
Reclamation have entered a new era in Western water. The Colorado
River Commission, Colorado River Water Users Association, National
Water Resources Association and federal, state and local governments are
moving toward open communication and consensus.
It is in the best interests of all Colorado River users to work in
harmony to manage water resources, to have respect for one another and to
have respect for the river. The future relies on the Colorado River, as it
has for the past 100 years and as it will throughout the 21st century.
Compiled and written by the public services department of the Southern Nevada
Water Authority.
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AN EARLY VIEW OF FREMONT STREET IN DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS.