LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — While the future of the Colorado River remains uncertain, officials from Nevada, California and Arizona are looking at other options to increase water stability in the southwest.
This week, the three states agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding to explore the legal and policy framework of possibly exchanging shares of Colorado River water and explore the potential need for federal funds to facilitate interstate exchanges.
"The memorandum of understanding really just outlines what the expectations are from all of the parties," explained Bronson Mack, from the Southern Nevada Water Authority. "It's really just a mechanism that allows all of these water utilities in each of these states with their own water laws to really be able to come together in a unified way and have a clear understanding of what's expected as this continues to move forward."
You can read the MOU below:
WATCH | Nevada, California, Arizona exploring Colorado River water sharing options:
What does that mean?
It means that cities that don't use all of their allocated water from the Colorado River could potentially share it with other cities that need it.
One of the options being discussed involves San Diego taking less water from the river and using more from a seawater desalination plant at Carlsbad State Beach. The Claude "Bud" Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant can produce up to 50 million gallons of potable water a day and provides San Diego with about 10% of its drinking water needs, according to the plant's website.
"San Diego has been doing a lot in the area of water resource development and conservation. They have a pretty long-term agreement with some of the irrigators and agricultural water users in Southern California that have transferred some of that agricultural water to be used for the urban area in San Diego, their desalination plant within Carlsbad," Mack said. "They've been advancing conservation just like we've been doing here in Southern Nevada. ... San Diego actually has more water available than what they are currently using, what they currently need, so this provides an opportunity for Arizona and Nevada to explore options to maybe be able to utilize some of that unused water from San Diego."
How would water sharing work?
When it comes to water sharing, you might be picturing pipelines or trucks transporting water between states. However, that's not the case.
If the proposal is approved, San Diego could sell part of their allocation of Colorado River water. Whoever buys that allocation would take more from the Colorado River, while San Diego would use more desalinated water.
Is this the only option that Nevada officials are looking at?
No. Mack told me the SNWA has multiple partnerships when it comes to protecting water supplies on the Colorado River.
"Even dating back to the early 2000s, when we partnered with California and Arizona to construct the Brock Reservoir [near Gordons Well, California], which increased water supplies for us locally, the operation of the Yuma desalting facility. We have a current agreement with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to be a partner on their Pure Water Project, which is a large-scale water recycling program that they are working on there in the Los Angeles area," Mack said. "This memorandum of understanding is just another example, another tool that the Lower Basin states have to really be able to work together to manage resources and continue to meet our community's water needs in these extremely dry conditions we've been experiencing."
SNWA officials previously told me that building up these water resources helps add to Nevada's "water savings account."
"[It] has banked water in aquifers in Arizona, has banked water in reservoirs in California, has banked water right under our. feet here in Southern Nevada. All told, that savings account adds up to more than two million acre feet of water," John Entsminger, SNWA General Manager, told me in February. "If you look at our water use last year, it's more than 10 years of use. So even if we were to be cut by 17%, the amount of water we have is still sufficient to see us through the 2070s."
ONLINE EXTRA | Bronson Mack from SNWA answers more questions about the Colorado River:
What about Colorado River negotiations?
The seven states that rely on the Colorado River have still not reached a new agreement on future operating guidelines. They have to come to an agreement by Oct. 1, which is when the new water year begins.
"While those negotiations between the seven states haven't yielded any consensus agreement, the Lower Basin states of Arizona, California, and Nevada have put forth multiple proposals," Mack said. "In fact, the most recent proposal looks at a shorter-term two to three-year option through the end of 2028. It also provides an additional three million acre feet of additional water savings to be able to keep that water in Lake Mead to try to prop up those water levels and reduce demand on the system."
Right now, Mack said states are waiting for feedback from the federal government and the Bureau of Reclamation.
"We have a little bit more time through the summer before a final decision is made," Mack said. "But ultimately, our expectation is that the federal government will be implementing operating guidelines."
Mack also thanked Southern Nevadans, saying conservation across the state has put Nevada in a good place.
"While these negotiations on the river have been taking place and SNWA has been working with Lower Basin partners on this memorandum of understanding to increase our water supply and protect Lake Mead, Southern Nevadans have been doing their part, changing sprinklers, clocks, replacing that grass. We, as a community, have been adapting over these two and a half decades to this warmer and drier climate that we find ourselves in today and it's because of the efforts of Southern Nevadans that our community is ahead of the curve."