Las Vegas plans to mine water in the future because they may outgrow their share of the Colorado River by 2007 according to the North County Times. From the article, "Kay Brothers, the Water Authority's deputy general manager, called that timeline a worst-case scenario, adding that through conservation and careful planning the state's share of the river water could be stretched beyond 2007. But Brothers acknowledged that the day is coming when southern Nevada will no longer be able to depend largely on its allotment from the river which currently supplies 90 percent of the area's drinking water. Brothers also said the annual budgets are based on separate projections from each of the authority's member agencies -- projections that 'tend to be conservative.' The water authority has had to come up with back-up resources, just in case. The 2006 water resource plan approved along with the agency's budget Thursday outlines some of those options. They include about 290,000 acre-feet of groundwater stored beneath the Las Vegas Valley, 30,000 acre-feet banked with California and an agreement with Arizona that guarantees Nevada 1.25 million acre-feet of water over the next 30 years. The water authority already has plans to build a $2 billion pipeline to pump groundwater from rural basins in rural Nevada. Officials also hope to use water from the Virgin and Muddy rivers. The first of the rural groundwater is slated to arrive in 2008 from watersheds near Indian Springs. Nevada gets 300,000 acre-feet of water that flows into Lake Mead from the Colorado River each year, though that amount is stretched to about 460,000 acre-feet through return-flow credits the state receives for returning its treated wastewater to Lake Mead."
Coyote Gulch wonders if officials in Las Vegas are aware of the problems of mining water and sustainable supplies that we know about here in Colorado (Douglas County)?
Here's an article from the Pueblo Chieftain detailing opposition to an agreement between Aurora and the Bureau of Reclamation. From the article, "The president of the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District is challenging the authority of the Bureau of Reclamation to enter into a long-term Lake Pueblo storage contract with Aurora. John Singletary said Friday he will ask the Lower Ark board to request congressional intervention in the storage question, which was a central point in Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District negotiations that led to a 2003 intergovernmental agreement...Singletary's question comes at a sensitive time on two fronts. Reclamation is doing an environmental assessment on Aurora's request for a 40-year contract for 10,000 acre-feet of storage and 10,000 acre-feet of contract exchange - trading water between Twin Lakes and Lake Pueblo without a drop hitting the stretch of river between the two reservoirs. Meanwhile, the Lower Ark District is negotiating with Aurora over the Preferred Storage Options Plan, which would study the feasibility of enlarging Lake Pueblo and Turquoise Lake. As previously written, PSOP legislation would formalize Reclamation's authority to deal with Aurora. PSOP was near passage last year, but was stopped by opposition from the Lower Arkansas. Negotiations began earlier this year. Singletary said he favors the 2003 IGA and wants to continue negotiations with Aurora, but he does not think Aurora should be working on a separate deal with Reclamation."
Category: Colorado Water
7:35:15 AM 
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