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States deal for water Even before the drought raised the stakes, Mulroy launched an ambitious plan to secure new water sources in- state, claiming water rights on two smaller rivers and tapping into rural groundwater. Nevada was also in line to take extra water from the river after piggybacking on a California deal, but the drought derailed that arrangement. That's why Mulroy has staked out her position early in drought talks with the other river states: Nevada needs help. Not permanent, give-us- your - water- forever help, just help until the in -state supplies are producing. She tested the winds by proposing a plan to pay farmers in Arizona and California to idle fields and let Nevada use their water. The proposal, to put it mildly, flopped. The Interior secretary said no, Arizona said no and the farmers in California said no, and some state officials suggested Nevada may have weakened its position in the ongoing drought talks. "We recognize the difficulties in southern Nevada," Norton said. "We want to work with them, but it has to be within the existing framework." Las Vegas tapped out For a city in the middle of the Mojave Desert, one that receives about 4 inches of rain a year, Las Vegas seems to use a lot of water. Its famous Strip is lined with fountains and water features. A water park anchors the northern end, a sandy wave pool the other. Amid the lights and the clattering coins of the slot machines, you can ride a gondola down an indoor canal at the Venetian, watch pirates battle on a small lagoon at Treasure Island and get lost in the musical dancing fountains at the Bellagio. That doesn't even count the people in the hotels. The city that promises "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas," attracts 36 million teeth - brushing, face - washing, shower - taking, toilet - flushing visitors a year. But it's not the tourists who suck up all the water. Resorts used just 8 percent of what Las Vegas took from the river last year. The rest was used by homes and businesses off the resort corridor. That's no secret to the other states, who have long seethed at Las Vegas for allowing growth to continue unchecked while its water supply dwindled, even ran out. The perception that southern Nevada has mismanaged its water lingers, no matter how many conservation programs the water authority enacts or how well they work. (Water use in Las Vegas declined by nearly 17 percent in 2003 after the drought rules took effect.) "We want people to know that Las Vegas is very aggressive about saving water," said Doug Bennett, who oversees water conservation programs for the regional water authority. "Sometimes people's perception is that we're very squanderous." Yet Vegas has survived this lopsided growth -water supply equation because of something called return -flow credits, an example of bookkeeping methods used to stretch water supplies across the and West. The Las Vegas Valley is a fairly compact bowl that tilts slightly to the east. It is ringed by mountains, with the tallest on its western flank. All the water from those mountains, from the streets and storm drains and from the water treatment plants, drains through a series of washes that eventually becomes one wash, the Las Vegas Wash. The Las Vegas Wash empties into Lake Mead, which is how return -flow credits figure in. In 2003, more than 191,000 acre -feet of runoff and mostly treated wastewater flowed into the lake from the wash. Nevada receives credit for that water against what it takes. Southern Nevada cities actually drew 491,000 acre -feet of water from Lake Mead in 2003, nearly two- thirds more than the state's allocation, but because of the return -flow credits, the state stayed within its share. Across Lake Mead and down U.S. 93, along the concrete canal that delivers Page 3 of 7 http:// www. azcentral .comispecialslspecia1061 articles /0722colorado- conflict.html 7/27/2004