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WATER POLITICS

According to an article in the Salt Lake City Tribune, there are a number of potential alternatives to the water pipeline proposed by Nevada, some of which may also have potential benefits for Lake Powell and Utah.  Seventeen options are noted, including those listed below.  We find it interesting and instructive that several of these potential alternatives involve cross-jurisdictional, and international, implications.

• “…Farm water. One California farm district gets 10 times as much Lake Mead water as all of Nevada. If Nevada got a tiny percentage of this highly subsidized farm water, it could supply water needs for decades.
• Columbia River water. Israel has negotiated to buy imported water from a river in Turkey. Similarly, SNWA could transport water by tankers or large plastic bubbles from the Columbia to California, and then obtain a similar amount of California water from Lake Mead.
• Columbia River canal. A canal could supply many cities and wetlands with water. Unused water would go into Lake Mead.
• Other canal options. A canal from the Arkansas, North Platte, or the South Platte to the Colorado River. Once water from one of these rivers reached the Colorado, it is all downhill to lakes Powell and Mead.
• Five percent water reduction. Nevada politicians could urge the secretary of Interior to cut 5 percent of the water delivered to every Colorado River state. This sends a conservation message to every state, helps power production, helps lake recreation, helps lake water quality, helps wildlife and gives Nevada more time.
• Buy from Mexico. Mexico owns five times as much water in Lake Mead as Nevada. Mexico may be delighted to temporarily sell some of this water.
• Desalting in Mexico. SNWA and the United States could finance a state-of-the-art desalting plant for any coastal city in Mexico. In exchange, Nevada gets an equivalent amount of Mexican water in Lake Mead.
• More water banking. SNWA could bank more water in Nevada aquifers, other states and Indian reservations.
• Buy river water. Upstream users have previously tried to sell water rights to downstream users. Some water may be for sale from upstream states and/or Indian reservations….”