Home Subscribe Las Vegas Review-Journal
  Jobs Cars Homes Shopping Travel Weddings Golf Best of Las Vegas Photo   Search:

RECENT EDITIONS
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

News
Apr. 14, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Water story makes big splash

Doomsday predictions for Lake Mead, Las Vegas get world's attention

By HENRY BREAN
REVIEW-JOURNAL

As part of a recent four-part series on worldwide water issues, Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun focused on drought-stricken Lake Mead and efforts to replace grass with desert landscaping in Las Vegas. The man standing at the end of the dock to nowhere is Southern Nevada Water Authority spokesman J.C. Davis.
Photo by Jeremy Lyverse/Review-Journal



Southern Nevada Water Authority chief Pat Mulroy is interviewed Tuesday at the Springs Preserve by the Weather Channel. Earlier in the day, Mulroy sat down with Al Jazeera reporters.
Photo by John Gurzinski.

The story has everything, from the lights of Las Vegas to the end of the world. No wonder it's drawing so much attention from media worldwide.

Over the past year, the Southern Nevada Water Authority has fielded a barrage of interview requests from media outlets from across the country and around the globe.

They all want to talk about the same thing: doomsday predictions for climate change, drought on the Colorado River and Las Vegas' water future.

Authority officials have been interviewed more than 30 times by some of the world's most recognized publications and broadcast outlets, from Good Morning America to the BBC, Time magazine and the French newspaper Le Monde.

Most Popular Stories
  • MOUNT CHARLESTON: Four die in plane crash
  • Two couples died in crash
  • NORM: Steve Wynn goes for mega-yacht
  • FAMILY SERVICES: Three visits preceded boy's death
  • NORM: Kirshner works on big Vegas project
  • NORM: Playboy models in state spotlight
  • Body of diver who jumped off 90-foot Lake Mead cliff found
  • NORM: Barkley is miffed by debt publicity
  • NORM: Playboy 'coed': Dad's OK with it
  • NORM: Elvis fan club will have star its way



    • These aren't the usual freelance journalists parachuting in from Los Angeles or New York, either. The world's most widely circulated newspaper, Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun, sent a staffer from Tokyo. The reporter from Le Monde came over from Paris.

    The requests really started to pour in two months ago after the Scripps Institution of Oceanography released a report predicting a 50-50 chance that Lake Mead could run dry by 2021.

    Within a week, water authority Public Information Manager Scott Huntley had fielded 18 media inquiries.

    "It was really a made-for-headline, made-for-TV kind of study," he said.

    The onslaught continues.

    Earlier this month, water authority General Manager Pat Mulroy taped an interview for CBS News Sunday Morning. On Tuesday, she sat down with the Weather Channel and the English-language branch of the Arabic news network Al Jazeera.

    "That was about as exotic a request I've gotten in my career," Huntley said, and he wasn't talking about the Weather Channel.

    For Mulroy, who has done the lion's share of the interviews, the surge in interest is proof of just how serious the drought got last year. The Scripps study simply brought the matter into sharper focus, she said.

    Huntley said the tone of recent interviews has changed somewhat when it comes to the study.

    "We're starting to get into the longer-term follow mode instead of the initial-frenzy mode," he said.

    Scripps researchers trace Lake Mead's fall to climate change and overuse of water from the Colorado River. According to the study, there is also a 50 percent chance that the reservoir's level will fall low enough to shut down power generation at Hoover Dam by 2017, and a 10 percent chance the lake could empty by 2014.

    Water managers have questioned the study's methodology, but Mulroy said its conclusions about Lake Mead cannot be dismissed out of hand.

    "Can I say it is impossible? No, I can't say it's impossible."

    International interest in the study, and the Colorado River as a whole, comes as no surprise to Mulroy.

    "From a media perspective, it's a sexy story for them. You've got Las Vegas. You've got the Grand Canyon. You've got Los Angeles," she said.

    "And climate change is an enormous issue in Europe. It's much bigger there than it is here. They're not arguing about whether it's real or not anymore."

    Mulroy got a bizarre, firsthand taste of Europe's fascination with the issue a few weeks ago, when she traveled to Zurich, Switzerland, for a speaking engagement before an environmental think tank, which paid for the trip.

    Mulroy said she turned on the television in her hotel room, and a familiar face appeared on the screen: hers. It was video, freshly dubbed in German, from an interview she gave months before in Las Vegas.

    "I thought, 'Oh my God, I can't get away from it,' " she said. "It was truly hilarious."

    Huntley said the story might not get quite so much traction overseas if it were happening in Portland, Ore.; Sacramento, Calif.; or San Antonio.

    "I think Las Vegas has an effect, yes. They can focus on a name they've all heard of. Everybody's heard of Las Vegas."

    In February, Yomiuri Shimbun, with its circulation of more than 10 million, published a four-part series on water issues worldwide. Part three was dedicated solely to shrinking Lake Mead and the water authority's turf rebate program.

    "There is a real heightened level of attention," Mulroy said.

    Reporters aren't the only ones taking notes, either.

    Mulroy recently returned from an international water conference hosted by investment house Goldman Sachs in New York City. Both the Scripps study and current conditions on the Colorado River came up at the conference.

    Mulroy said it is clear that "Wall Street is watching" the water situation in Las Vegas, something that could impact private investment in, and bond ratings for, projects in the region.

    So what did Southern Nevada's water czar say to calm the jangled nerves of the nation's largest investment firms?

    "As dire as it looks on television, Las Vegas has a plan," Mulroy said she told them. "Never underestimate Las Vegas' ability to adapt."

    The community's plan is to lessen its dependence on the drought-stricken Colorado River by building a pipeline to tap groundwater across eastern Nevada.

    The project is expected to stretch 250 miles, as far north as Great Basin National Park, and cost between $2 billion and $3.5 billion.

    Even at peak capacity, however, the pipeline would supply fewer than 400,000 homes, far less than what the Colorado River provides. The Las Vegas Valley gets 90 percent of its water from the river by way of Lake Mead.

    The Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada is one of several groups that have objected publicly to the pipeline project, declaring it a threat to the environment and the livelihoods of rural residents.

    PLAN's executive director, Bob Fulkerson, said he welcomes all the media attention, even if it gives water authority officials a larger forum to tout the virtues of their pipeline.

    "The spin can work both ways. All eyes are on Las Vegas, and the reporters we have talked to are pretty much aghast that Las Vegas wants to go through with this project."

    Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0350.



    Leave Your Comment 15 Reader Comments
    Terms & Conditions
    The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The reviewjournal.com does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please notify the web editor.

    Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 48 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
    Current Word Count:

    Bill wrote on April 14, 2008 10:26 PM: Drought? There's no drought. At least that's what the developers tell us. Why shouldn't we believe them? The Commissioners all do. Can you say BRIBE??????


    Vegas Vic wrote on April 14, 2008 07:56 PM: It seems to me that blowing $2 to $3.5 billion dollars on something that will only support one fifth of the residents of this valley is stupidity, to say the least. And, what happens when the rural aquifers dry up and there's no more water to pump? Not only does Las Vegas suffer, the lives of the residents of those rural counties will have been ruined. I guess no one learned the lessons at Owens Valley in Kalifornia.


    Rodman wrote on April 14, 2008 04:27 PM: In reply to Randy's blog; Do you really think the developers care if there is or isn't any water? They will continue to build until the lake runs dry and then like any other traveling circus, sideshow etc. pack it in and go else where chasing the dollar. Remember it was the developers and builders who overnight doubled the home prices thus being a major player in this big sub prime mess. There only care is the bottom line and residents be dammed.


    Helen Weils wrote on April 14, 2008 03:46 PM: hello, why doesn't Las Vegas make their water from the air just like
    countries all over are doing? This is not bs but very real! I sell the equipment! It's because Harry Reid wants to create some union jobs to do the pipline is why. Vegas Juice, it's all an inside job!


    dwc wrote on April 14, 2008 01:38 PM: OK, Mr. Walker, we've seen your posts here quite a few times, but we've yet to be enlightened. Please, spill the beans!


    Ray Walker wrote on April 14, 2008 11:36 AM: What will someone think of next...?

    Thirty (30) interviews with world wide newsmedia coverage and not a single mention was made that a new fresh water Source has been offered to the SNWA, NV and the Bureau which will balance all evaporation losses from Lake Mead and could FILL Lake Mead in nearly the same time period that the Scripps Institution of Oceanography predicts Lake Mead will go dry !

    The Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada refuses to mention that all entities have been GUARANTEED that development of the new Source will not damage the water rights of anyone, anywhere or the environment.

    Even Ms. Quagga mussel is mute about the Source because she too knows she cannot plug it !

    If a retired radio technition suffering from cancer can come up with a new Cure for the dreaded disease, why is it so hard to believe that a retired water rights analyst has not found a new Source of fresh water to solve the drought scenarios of Nevada... ?

    What will someone think of next....an investigation by those who are paid to supply water to the region ?

    Coming up with a Cancer cure or finding a million acre feet of fresh water a year are simple compared to getting the SNWA, NV or the Bureau of Reclamation to timely communicate, let alone investigate !

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


    WaterSource wrote on April 14, 2008 11:26 AM: Thirty (30) interviews with world wide newsmedia coverage and not a single mention was made that a new fresh water Source has been offered to the SNWA, NV and the Bureau which will balance all evaporation losses from Lake Mead and could FILL Lake Mead in nearly the same time period that the Scripps Institution of Oceanography predicts Lake Mead will go dry !

    The Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada refuses to mention that all entities have been GUARANTEED that development of the new Source will not damage the water rights of anyone, anywhere or environment.

    Even Ms. Quagga mussel is mute about the Source because she too knows she cannot plug it !

    If a retired radio technition suffering from cancer can come up with a new Cure for the dreaded disease, why is it so hard to believe that a retired water rights analyst has not found a new Source of fresh water to solve the drought scenarios of Nevada... ?

    What will someone think of next....an investigation by those who are paid to supply water to the region ?

    Coming up with a Cancer cure or finding a million acre feet of fresh water a year are simple compared to getting the SNWA, NV or the Bureau of Reclamation to timely communicate !

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




    new hotels wrote on April 14, 2008 10:38 AM: Lets build another casino in town so we can get more of the locals money and use up more water.Stupid people in this town.More mega resorts to use what ever water is left. But they ok it all


    RANDY wrote on April 14, 2008 09:40 AM: IT IS RIDICULOUS TO THINK THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH WATER HERE IN CLARK COUNTY. IF THERE WAS SUCH A DIRE PROBLEM WITH THE DROUGHT, THEN WHY ARE WE STILL BUILDING HOUSES AND HOTELS? THEY ARE TRYING TO GET THE REST OF CLARK COUNTY RESIDENTS TO CONSERVE SO THEY CAN KEEP ON BUILDING. WHY SHOULD I CONSERVE WATER? SO THEY CAN BUILD 10 THOUSAND MORE HOMES? IT'S ALL ABOUT MAKING MORE MONEY. THEY COULD CARE LESS (THE DEVELOPERS ) ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS TO THE LITTLE GUY.THE WATER AUTHORITY IS A FRONT GROUP FOR THE DEVELOPERS. THE WATER AUTHORITY WILL GIVE ALL THE WATER TO THE DEVELOPERS AND THE LITTLE GUY WILL PAY FOR IT IN THE FORM OF HIGHER TAXES, HIGHER PRICES, AND HIGHER FINES.


    Rebel22 wrote on April 14, 2008 09:27 AM: Mulroy is a so gangsta!


    Read All Comments