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<br />Las Vegas Area Taps Lake Mead to Satisfy A Growing Thirst (4/24/2000) <br /> <br />... <br /> <br />enr.. <br /> <br />-A -_ <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Home <br /> <br />This week's magazine <br />~ Cover story <br />. Features and more <br />. Information Technology <br />~ Stock Index <br />. Industry calendar <br />. Opinion <br />. People and awards <br />. Cost indexes <br />. Construction Economics <br />. 125 Years in ENR <br />History <br /> <br />Headline News <br />. Buildings <br />. Business & Labor <br />. Environment <br />. Finance <br />~ Technology <br />. Transportation <br />. Industrial <br />. Power <br /> <br />Career Opportunities <br /> <br />000781 page~ <br />~ fj \\. <br /> <br />AlumaSystel5(ls <br /> <br /> <br />.... COVER STORY WATER SUPPLY (4/24/2000) <br /> <br />Las Vegas Area Taps <br />Lake Mead to Satisfy A <br />Growing Thirst <br /> <br />Water czar gambles by upping capacity above <br />allocation <br /> <br />By David B. Rosenbaum <br /> <br />As if spitting in critics' eyes, Las Vegas Valley water czar Patricia Mulroy <br />recently approved a huge change order to speed construction of a new water <br />treatment plant in the nation's most arid and fast-growing metropolis. "We <br />saw ourselves really running into a time crunch," she says. "Our lawyers said <br />we'd get screamed at no matter what we did." <br /> <br />Critics only muttered, knowing that Mulroy, as general manager of the <br />Southern Nevada Water Authority, enjoys public support for inspiring, <br />managing and accelerating its $2-billion capital-improvement plan. Now 60% <br />complete, the work extends 50 miles from Lake Mead through Las Vegas. <br />And as Mulroy oversees expenditures that peaked at $1 million per day last <br />summer-and still run $700,000 daily-she wins praise for keeping the plan <br />within budget and on schedule without sacrificing construction quality. "She <br />has significantly fewer critics than most public figures here," says Michael <br />Weissenstein, a reporter who covers SNW A for the city's largest newspaper. <br />"The water authority is acknowledged to be well managed, and she's <br />generally praised as an efficient manager." <br /> <br />Even some of Mulroy's loudest critics see noble motives. The local chapter <br />of the Associated Builders and Contractors had blasted her $31-million <br />change order as a "dangerous precedent" lacking "taxpayer safeguards." But <br />Executive Director Dallas Coonrod admits: "I think she is attempting to do <br />the right thing...what she believes is in the best interests of her constituents." <br /> <br />ENR'S Top Ra~ked Firms But a few others view Mulroy as too close to the local gaming and <br />~ Top DeSign Firms . .. Th h h k d .. I <br />. Top Contractors constructIon commumtIes. ey note t at s e once wor e as a Jumor ana yst <br />. Top Specialty for then-Clark County Manager Richard Bunker, now the governor-appointed <br />Contractors . chairman ofthe Colorado River Commission and past president and current <br />· Top International consultant to the gaming industry's Nevada Resort Association. "She's pretty <br />~~~g~~~~~~ational Design much doing what she's been to~d by the'people who control this econoI?Y," <br />says L. Kenneth Mahal, 79, retued preSIdent and CEO of Ellerbe Architects <br /> <br />Project Bids and Legal <br />Notices <br /> <br />http://www.enr.comlnew/c42400.asp <br /> <br />05/15/2000 <br />