Pat Mulroy
General Manager, Southern Nevada Water Authority

The past five years have been among the most challenging periods ever faced by those of us who rely upon the Colorado River. After spending the better part of the 1990s negotiating how we would share the river’s surplus flows, we suddenly found ourselves confronted by a drought of historic proportions. In the blink of an eye, water managers found themselves grappling with the contentious issue of how we will share a shortage.

I believe the West’s continued ability to rely upon the Colorado River will be determined by water users’ willingness to be flexible and respect other’s needs as though they were their own. With scarcity comes interdependence; we must either accept this new paradigm or be crushed by the consequences.

Can the Colorado alone sustain all of our uses indefinitely? No. However, it can remain a critical and stable source of supply for our essential needs. Just as we in Nevada are looking to our state’s unused groundwater supplies for protection, others—many of whom are well ahead of us in this respect—must maintain the balanced portfolio of water resources so critical to economic stability.

In terms of growth, I believe the ability of the West’s water supplies to sustain an increasing population is a function not of whether we grow, but rather how we grow. In Las Vegas, we served about a quarter of a million more people in 2005 than we did in 2002—with approximately 20 billion gallons less water. We did so by enacting one of the country’s most aggressive conservation plans, and by embracing innovative technologies that increase the efficiency of both residential and commercial properties. The combination of education, incentives and enforcement is the key to encouraging sustainable development.

While the current drought and worries over long-term climatic conditions are certainly cause for worry, I for one am optimistic that these challenges will usher in a new era of cooperation and flexibility on the Colorado River.

David S. Wilson, Jr.
General Manager,
Central Arizona Project >>

Bob Johnson
Commissioner,
Bureau of Reclamation >>

Jeff Kightlinger
General Manager, Metropolitan Water District >>