On May 31, 2022, the Desert Valley Times published an article by Suman Naishadham of the Associated Press dealing with how the cities in the West deal with water issues during the drought. Naishadham pointed to the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), among others in the West, dealing with water conservation, reuse, and recycling. The SNWA effort, according to Naishadham, “slashed its use of Colorado River water by 26% while the regions’ population grew by 49%.
Naishadham quoted Anne Castle, a senior fellow at the Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environmental River System,” saying: That’s [water conservation] going to require the per capita usage in these various cities to continue down, not just when the governor declares an emergency. “
The SNWA, which relies primarily on water supplies from Lake Mead, hopes to reduce consumptive use [i]from about 200 gallons in 2000 per capita per day to 86 GPCD by 2035. The 2035 amount represents a drop from an original amount of 105 gallons per capita per day[ii] by the SNWA politically appointed Board of Directions chaired by Clark County Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick.
And the Central Iron County Water Conservation District (CICWCD) in Utah delivers 262 gallons per capita per day, exceeding Utah’s average by nine percent.
Unfortunately, the Virgin Valley Water District (VVWD), which serves the communities of Mesquite and Bunkerville, NV, delivered 270.03 gallons per capita per day (GPCD). They plan to maintain that rate consistently in the future. [iii]
| Virgin Valley Water District 2020 Master Plan * | |||
| Years | Average Total Daily Demand (gal) daily for 2020 | population | gal per day |
| 2020 | 6,808,464.00 | 25,214.00 | 270.03 |
| 2030 | 9,465,670.00 | 35,055.00 | 270.02 |
| 2035 | 11,161,020.00 | 41,333.00 | 270.03 |
| 2040 | 12,751,410.00 | 47,223.00 | 270.03 |
| * Projected VVWD Culinary Water Demand through Buildout. Pg. 3-14 |
Mark Hill, a watershed scientist, points to several efforts directed toward water conservation. They include:
- St. George, Utah, is advocating for a dam on the North Fork of the Virgin River to meet its present and future water needs.
- Cedar City, Utah, proposes to pump water from valleys outside the county.
- The Santa, Utah City Council passed extensive water conservation and landscaping. They include, in addition to its zoning codes that, among other items, limit the size of lawn areas at new homes, place water limits on new car washes and golf courses, ban certain plants and trees and prohibit irrigation with drinkable water from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. from June to August.
- The city of Ivans, Utah, followed suit.
- Las Vegas and Henderson just passed ordinances that greatly curtails lawn and other residential watering. Yet, in Mesquite, all is well.
Hill points to a quote from Kevin Brown, the Manager of the Virgin Valley Water District (VVWD) …” How many times do I have to say it? We have plenty of water! [iv]” Do we, Hill asks rhetorically?
Hill points to the VVWD Master Plan assumptions as anecdotal observations, “not data, not actual measurements.”
Hill refers to the 1968 USGS study, [which shows] the annual, perennial yield from the Basin 222 is about 3,600 ac-ft[v]. The VVWD is pumping over 7,000 ac-ft annually [vi]but claims to have a water budget of 12,271 ac-ft set by the state water engineer. This is misleading, Hill says, because the state engineer has set a [underground] water budget of 3,600 ac-ft for the VVWD. The 12,271 ac-ft reflects the number of over appropriated water rights for the Basin.
Hill concludes by saying that: reliable data is needed for the city government to make intelligent decisions. Mesquite cannot assume there is sufficient water to allow growth to the “grow-out” level without data and surety from a conjunctive study, a wetlands study, and an MSHCP study. Until then, the city should place a moratorium on building permits, and the State must place a hold on further well development.
Reinforcing Hill’s “hold” idea, In Utah, their state water engineer adopted a groundwater management plan that slowly rescinds water rights until the Basin is back within safe yield estimates. [vii]
[i] Consumptive water use is water removed from available supplies without return to a water resource system not returned to a stream, river, or water treatment plant.
[ii] Southern Nevada Water Authority, 2020 Water Resource Plan, pg 32 at: https://www.snwa.com/assets/pdf/water-resource-plan-2020.pdf
[iii] Bowen Collins and Associates, Water Master Plan, prepared for the Virgin Valley Water District, pg. 3-14
[iv] Kevin Brown statement at Mesquite City Council meeting in response to presentation on need for a conjunctive study by Dr. Michael McGreer of the Mesquite Water Alliance.
[v] An acre-foot (ac-ft) is a unit of measurement described as 1-foot of water covering an acre of land, or roughly the water needed for three homes for a year.
[vi] According to the Nevada Water Engineer, the 2020 Virgin Valley Water District pumpage rate was 8,684 Acre Feet Annually.
[vii] United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management,Pine Valley Water Supply Project, Draft Environmental Impact Statemen, January 2022, pg. ES-1 at: https://eplanning.blm.gov/public_projects/1503915/200379940/20052653/250058836/Revised%20DOI-BLM-UT-C010-2020-0012-EIS_Public%20Comment.pdf
