Federal officials and water administrators in metro areas such as Las Vegas and Phoenix say they’re committed to finding new ways to make every drop of river water count – from cloud seeding to pipelines to new reservoirs to desalination plants.
They point to agreements to leave surpluses unused in wet years, share pain in dry years and buy water designated for farms for city use.
But they’re all watching Lake Mead, the biggest in a Colorado River basin that supplies water to California, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and part of Mexico. The states get annual allotments dating to the Colorado River Compact of 1922.
Over the years, the amount hasn’t kept pace with a post-World War II development boom in the Southwest, and pressure has increased with drought gripping the region for almost 15 years.
The effect of increased demand and diminished supply is visible on Lake Mead’s canyon walls. A white mineral band often compared with a bathtub ring marks the depleted water level.
The lake is expected to drop to 1,080 feet above sea level this year – down almost the width of a football field from a high of 1,225 feet in 1983. A projected level of 1,075 feet in January 2016 would trigger cuts in water deliveries to Arizona and Nevada.
At 1,000 feet, drinking water intakes would go dry to Las Vegas, a city of 2 million residents and a destination for 40 million tourists per year that is almost completely dependent on the reservoir.
That has the Southern Nevada Water Authority spending more than $800 million to build a 20-foot-diameter pipe so it can keep getting water.
The region is also stressing water conservation, prohibiting grass lawns for new homes and fountains at businesses. Officials say the overall effort has reduced consumption 33 percent in recent years while the Las Vegas area added 400,000 residents.
But severely restricting water use for swimming pools or lawns in a city like Phoenix wouldn’t make much difference, said Kathryn Sorensen, the city’s Water Services Department director, because conservation efforts need to be applied across the western U.S.
“The solution can’t come just from municipal conservation; there isn’t enough water there,” she said.
If cuts do come, they’ll test the agreements forged in recent years between big, growing cities and farmers.
In California, home to 38 million residents, farmers in the sparsely populated Imperial Valley in southeast California have senior water rights ensuring that they get water regardless of the condition.
Kevin Kelley, general manager of the Imperial Irrigation District, defends his agency’s position at the head of the line and dismisses the idea that water should go to those who can pay the most or make the most compelling economic argument.
Imperial Valley farmers grow some 200 crops, Kelley said, from alfalfa to cotton and celery to zucchini. “There has to be a place in a diverse economy and a diverse Southwest for a place like this that grows food and fiber year-round,” he said.
In Arizona, reduced deliveries of Colorado River water would largely affect the Central Arizona Project, which manages canals supplying 80 percent of the state’s population. A tiered system means farmers would face cuts first, shielding Native American tribes and big cities.
Bagnall, who owns Morningstar Farms in Coolidge, Arizona, worries about the future of farming in the region. Tighter supplies mean there will be less farming and fewer dollars going to agricultural services like fertilizer suppliers.
“Eventually,” he said, “the prices are going to hit the consumer. Sooner or later, it’s got to go up. So it’s just a domino effect.”
Just saw this and was shocked at the current water levels at Lake Mead, having had a close relative who lived in Boulder City and having waterskied on it myself for years. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Yeah, it’s scary, especially since Cali cannot possibly build desalination plants fast enough in advance of need (assuming they are already “in the pipeline”).
The Colo rockies actually had a banner year for runoff, leading to a horrible mosquito problem from the western slope to the front range and beyond to the plains (Weld County, where the mosquitos are actually worse than anywhere). The runoff from the highest peaks is causing some mountain streams and rivers to bulge. I just got back from there a couple of weeks ago where I was bitten dozens of times through repellent and also through my clothing. Hopefully, Colo’s banner snowfall for winter 2013/14 will stave off Lake Mead from getting below the 1000 feet level in the near future.
This phenomenon doesn’t bode well for many (grossly overbuilt) CA counties’ continuing water supplies.
