Convention Ends With Waters Still Troubled

LAS VEGAS -- The Colorado River Water Users Assn. convention -- the annual gathering of 1,000-plus water officials that is both working session and holiday party -- ended Tuesday on an unhappy note: Four California water agencies failed to reach a deal to spare the state a major reduction in water.

“There are no breakthroughs or developments,” said Assistant Interior Secretary Bennett Raley, the Bush administration’s top water official in the West. “Everyone is getting back on airplanes.... I see no basis for anything other than [to] hope for a miracle.”

Although the four agencies vowed to continue discussions after they returned home, hope that a deal can be reached before the Dec. 31 deadline seems to be fading.

“It won’t happen until at least January, and probably much longer” after that, said Andy Horne, a member of the Imperial Irrigation District board. The district is the agricultural agency whose refusal to sign a deal to send water to coastal San Diego was the buzz of the convention at Caesars Palace.

Talk like Horne’s has infuriated many water officials in the West, but none more than those in Nevada, which stands to lose a share of its Colorado River water if the California agencies cannot agree on a massive shift of water from Imperial Valley farmers to coastal cities.

“My annoyance level is rising,” said Patricia Mulroy, general manager of the Las Vegas-based Southern Nevada Water Authority. “It’s outrageous that Nevada has to suffer because of California.”

The fates of California and Nevada are linked because both receive so-called surplus water -- more than their legal allotments from the Colorado.

Two years ago, the seven states that depend on the river devised a plan to give California 15 years to wean itself from its extra water, with an interim deadline at the end of this year for cutting the state’s historic overdraft.

California is entitled to 4.4 million acre-feet of water a year and has been drawing an additional 600,000 to 800,000.

Nevada is entitled to 300,000 acre-feet and has been receiving an additional 30,000. Nevada uses all of its Colorado River water for municipal needs, unlike California, where 75% of the 4.4 million acre-feet is dedicated to agriculture in the once-arid Imperial Valley.

With the Dec. 31 deadline less than two weeks away, representatives from Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico are in no mood to give California more time. Interior Secretary Gale Norton, in a keynote speech Monday, said shipments of surplus water to California and Nevada will be suspended Jan. 1 until an agreement is reached.

Nevada officials say it is unfair to punish their state -- long praised by federal officials for parsimonious use of water -- for the water sins of California. In a buzzword that swept this weekend’s convention, Nevada would like a “decoupling” to separate itself from California on the issue of surplus water.

“We don’t know if it’s doable,” Raley said. “We understand there are issues of equity. But there are also serious legal issues, as well as concerns from other states.”

Nevada has not been alone in demanding that surplus shipments to California cease so it can reclaim its fair share of the Colorado in the midst of a drought.

“The rest of the West cannot be allowed to suffer because of California’s lack of planning and discipline,” said Rep. James V. Hansen (R-Utah), chairman of the House Resources Committee. Rep. Scott McInnis (R-Colo.) added: “California has bilked the Colorado River Basin states long enough.”

The potential cutback in the river’s water comes as southern Nevada is already wrestling with the depletion of local water sources because of drought and a building boom. An emergency plan of cutbacks and price increases is being prepared.

Officials of the Imperial Irrigation District, the Coachella Valley Water District, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the San Diego County Water Authority vowed to continue discussions to resolve issues involving money and environmental protection.

“Keep us in your thoughts over the next 14 days,” Maureen Stapleton, general manager of the San Diego authority, told conventioneers at a panel discussion. “When you’re celebrating New Year’s Eve, we may still” be negotiating.