Las Vegas Now Blogs » Water For Las Vegas Valley Could Cost Billions

A massive pipeline project has been proposed that would import billions of gallons of water from rural Nevada to the Las Vegas Valley. It is now waiting approval by the state engineer. The Southern Nevada Water Authority acknowledges it could cost more than $3 billion. If the plans get the green light, will you be willing to pay for it?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 28th, 2006 at 1:59 pm and is filed under Nevada Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

21 Comments »

Unless we stop the growth in this valley, bringing in more water will only prolong the death of Las Vegas. There simply isn’t enough water anywhere in this state to keep up with run-away growth. I’ve been here over 20 years and I plan on moving out of state before this infastructure collapses.

Comment by James Born — November 28, 2006 @ 4:37 pm
If the project is going to cost billions, the best idea would be to run a line to the Pacific Ocean and build a desalination plant. At least you will have unlimited water once the pipeline and plant is built.

gary

Comment by Gary Kulak — November 28, 2006 @ 4:45 pm
Should pipeline from northeast where they always get flooding.
Should be a national project, would put lots of people to work.

Comment by CB — November 28, 2006 @ 4:48 pm
I personaly have been to this area many times and it’s beautiful.
Why would we steal water from farmers that use it to grow there crops and deserve it more than our growth here in Las Vegas?
If we have out grown our supply of water then why do we still build house’s and apartments when we know we don’t have the water to supply them with?
This is crazy! As members of Las Vegas who have done there part to conserve water by taken out our grass, watering at night and doing what we can to help.
How can the leaders of this great city not see what needs to be done with this issue.
NO MORE BUILDING OF HOUSES AND APARTMENTS.There are plenty of used houses for sale here in the valley. It just doen’t make since to shorten the supply of water to farms just to make our valley bigger.
Thank you Ken

Comment by Ken — November 28, 2006 @ 4:52 pm
Should limit people moving here, that won’t cost billions.

Comment by cb — November 28, 2006 @ 5:00 pm
I have lived in Las Vegas now for 35 1/2 years if the water problem is so bad why are they using so much at construction area around town. Why do we need so many golf
courses? where is the water police when you drive by a government or city building or school and water is running down the street. I don’t have a lawn but you want me to pay for fountain at the Belligo and the nice green grass at the golf course for some one who make 3x what I do. I say let them pay for it. I have dirt for a lawn and it’s not pretty. Let the golf course,government and city pay for their nice lawns.I get to water my dirt once a week for what
to get mud. Thank you, you want to play you pay.

Comment by Jene — November 28, 2006 @ 5:09 pm
I have lots of pictures of a major developer wasting water for years but it seems no one has the guts to look into the companies water records due to the fact that X politicians and officials are the owners of the company.
My phone number is 340-9522 if anyone is interested or has the power to investigate.

Comment by Jim Ludwiock — November 28, 2006 @ 5:16 pm
This would be just another engineering feat that we should accept and complete. In the future it will be awed upon as another modern marvel.

Comment by MIKE — November 28, 2006 @ 6:41 pm
Mulroy says the valley has no choice. We need the water not only to sustain growth but for survival itself. Why is this county still encouraging growth if we are really worried about this issue with water. I don’t think it’s fair at all to deprive other counties of their water…they are the smart ones in reference to curbing urban sprawl..maybe we need to take some lessons from them! WE DO HAVE A CHOICE AND THAT IS TO STOP THE URBAN SPRAWL…THIS IS NOT GOOD MANAGEMENT AND THE QUALITY OF LIFE HAS JUST GONE DOWN HILL!!!

Comment by Alex — November 28, 2006 @ 7:02 pm
I feel the whole idea of steeling the water from central nevada is wrong. Yes our rates will go up, but is it worth it no. More should be done to slow growth and cut usage. How many pool can you put in the desert?

Comment by Jack Kimenker — November 28, 2006 @ 7:02 pm
I emailed George Knapp sometime last year regarding our water. I told him in the email “If we have no water, why are we keep building and building in Las Vegas? His statement was “We need to reserve water for the future. I heard on the news last night that Arizona has so much underground water, don’t we have alot of underground water?

Thank you, Marilyn Thompson

Comment by Marilyn Thompson — November 29, 2006 @ 8:02 am
Las Vegas has created its own prison. If we stop growth , we will put 1/2 the population out of work (Unlv survey of 2 years ago). If we continue to build …well we will dry up the lake and we will all be out of luck. Either way Las Vegas will die, its just a matter of who does the killing…The city officials or Mother nature.

Comment by Patrick — December 5, 2006 @ 5:23 pm
Here’s a catch. How about converting sea water to drinking water? Maybe with global warming and rising sea levels we could stop the flooding of millions and solve a water problem…. Nah…we ain’t that smert. But we’ll spend billions to pipe it in from inland areas that need it? wow……

Comment by Debbie — December 14, 2006 @ 4:58 pm
It is all about the money. Pat Mulroy, county commissioners, city council members and the rest of the politicians in this community are far to busy trying to further their own personal agendas at the expense of this city. No one is interested in what is best for Las Vegas; if they were, they would put a moratorium on building which would curb population growth. I am just disgusted!!!

Comment by Trish — December 19, 2006 @ 7:31 am
I have come to the conclusion that a water tax will have to go into effect in 2007.This will not effect Nevada residents. The tax revenue will come from tourist especially California residents who are sucking all of our resources.

Comment by Brian — December 22, 2006 @ 1:52 pm
For the eighty-four (84) years since the signing of the Colorado River Compact, complex maneuvers have been on-going which have created mountains of paper, but not a drop of new water for the Colorado River.

Thousands of meetings and millions of dollars have now been spent.

Thorough knowledge of water rights in the arid southwest and strict adherence to the “law of the river” is absolutely essential to solving such a complex puzzle as providing ample new water for the ribbon of fluid so often fought over. Above all else, the riddle can only be solved if no existing water rights are in the least bit damaged. Furthermore, no plan is viable without ample protection for the environment and its creatures.

The pages of the struggle for a real “wet water” solution may someday be written, because the marvelous Source has in deed been discovered, analyzed and is ample for the burgeoning populations, industry and recreation. Secondary return flow use of waters from the Source can restore the estuaries of the Colorado River Delta and Salton Sea..

Why is it that the entities/agencies which have been empowered to divert, deliver and distribute the water of the Colorado River have not pursued the investigation of such a wonderful resource ? Have they not been notified of its existence ? Have they not been assured that the Source is real ? Of course they have ! Even with a guarantee, they have thus far formulated no way to proceed with analysis and evaluation of the fountain of ample supply.

As the meetings convene and players take their seats in the halls of justice and convention centers, let it be known that a real Source solution does indeed physically exist which is legally and economically feasible to develop to provide a new non-tributary Source of 750,000 acre feet of fresh water each year for the dwindling Colorado River.

Have we found in your publication, a messenger who can help deliver to the 25 million who rely on the Colorado River, our claim of a vast fresh water Source sufficient for the environment and their expanding needs ?

Ray Walker (Retired Colorado River Water Rights Analyst)
waterrdw@yahoo.com

Comment by Ray Walker — January 4, 2007 @ 6:09 am
TO whom ever reads this note* I WAS BORN HERE 54 YEARS AGO. I saw that the snwa wants to remove water from 3/4 states/or n.nv/utah/n.arz. is something is wrong with this why? ROBBING PETER TO PAY PAUL! the cost is nuts. IS IT NOT CHEAPER TO TAKE FROM THE OCEAN CHEAPER & SMARTER? then we are not taking from people that depend on it. You build a pipe line,pump stations, then DESALT IT, the navy does, you taken the ground water from somewhere else? then where’s next! THE OCEAN IS 75% OF THIS PLANET WITH YEARS IN RESEARVE JUST MY NOUGHEN WISHING, THANKS FOR THE TIME TO SPEAK

Comment by tomas — January 16, 2007 @ 10:30 am
I believe a better, albeit more expensive solution near-term, would be to utilize desalination plants, strategically located in southern California, and pipe the potable water to Las Vegas. Utilizing inland ground and surface water is really only a band-aid approach and one which will have an extremely negative impact on the inland ecologies long-term. Unfortunately in this country special interests, working with political entities, tend to disregard the environmental impact of human activities and focus primarily on monetary or other personal gain. While I am not what one would consider a “tree hugger” I do worry considerably about our environment and feel that we, as a nation and a race, need to consider preservation of our natural resources when planning our growth strategies. Yes desalination is more expensive near-term but as a citizen of Nevada I am willing to pay the increased cost in order to preserve natural resources. As citizens of today we must be willing to make such investments in ours and our descendant’s futures. The oceanic water supply is almost endless relative to human consumption; inland ground and surface water is not.

For anyone interested there is a brief overview of the desalination process, specific to southern California, here;

http://www.coastal.ca.gov/desalrpt/dchap1.html

Comment by Tom Harvey — March 3, 2007 @ 5:21 pm
Desal plants require HUGE amounts of energy(usually nat gas) and only work on continents that have abundant natural gas resources. Not to mention the energy required to pump it up to Las Vegas.
The water problem, and especially the peak oil problem(google “peak oil”), will cause mass migrations away from Las Vegas, and the entire sw desert region, starting about last October with me moving out. Just look at uhaul rates that last year this time were cheap to leave Vegas, now they are 3 times higher, especially to the midwest.

Comment by Richard Griffin — May 9, 2007 @ 10:37 am
PEOPLE SAY THAT THE DESAL PLANT WILL TAKE ALOT OF ENERGY TO RUN IF I DO REMEMBER ITS NOT THAT CLOUDY IN SOUTHERN NEVDA IF U ARE WORRIED ABOUT THE MONEY MAYBE THE TWO MONOPOLIES SHOULD TEAM UP AND BUILD A DESAL PLANT HUGE ENOUGH NOT ONLY TO HELP US BUT REPLINISH THE LAKE AND CHARGE A SURCHARGE TO ALL OF THE OTHER SURROUNDING STATES HELL BOTH COMPANIES MAKE BILLIONS A YEAR THEY CAN FRONT THE MONEY FORTHE PLANT NOT ONLY THAT SINCE ITS ALL OFF OF SOLAR ENERGY IT WILL PAY IT SELF OFF IN NO TIME.

Comment by DAVID — December 5, 2007 @ 5:23 pm
If the SNWA wants to waste billions on piping water they don’t even know for sure exists so be it. But the SNWA is a public agency and the governor should take a slice of all the money they’re making and use it for the state budget. And someone should monitor those ranch purchases in White Pine County because insiders are getting rich at our expense. Every ranch they buy up there should be open to public hunting and fishing since they used public money to buy it.

Comment by Gerald — April 24, 2008 @ 11:59 am

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