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Thursday, April 14, 2011
No Easy Fix for Las Vegas, N.M., Water Woes
By Sue Major Holmes
Associated Press
Water restrictions have become a way of life in the northern New Mexico community of Las Vegas, whose mayor says his city needs a better supply, more space to store it and replacement of an aging pipeline system it's been fixing one leak at a time.
The city of about 14,000 has endured some level of water restrictions for at least eight years since 2000. Last week, city councilors declared an emergency due to one of the driest winters in 60 years.
They banned outdoor watering, told hotels not to change sheets and towels more often than every four days for long-term guests, and said restaurant customers who ask for water should get it in a paper cup. They closed hotel and motel swimming pools, hot tubs and ornamental fountains and prohibited car washes from using city water three days a week.
Charlie's Spic and Span Bakery & Café might start using paper plates and cups and plastic cutlery to avoid washing dishes, said owner Charlie Sandoval. That will make the dishwasher and suppliers happy, he jokes.
Locals worry about water, and the restrictions are "a big topic of conversation — all of a sudden you can't wash your car," Sandoval said.
At the historic Plaza Hotel, owner William Slick is reminding his staff not to automatically pour water for customers in the restaurant. At home, he's taking shorter showers.
College student and Spic and Span waitress Shalese Shell said family members aren't bothering with gardens this year, forgoing the home-grown squash, watermelons, onions, beets, cucumbers and other vegetables.
Community organizer Woody Einer worries that banning outdoor watering will keep people from growing food in a community where more than a quarter of the residents fall below poverty level.
"I think that our water ordinance errs greatly, because it does not distinguish between someone watering a half-acre trophy lawn and someone who is below poverty and needing to supplement their larder," Einer said.
Ed Polasko, hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, said Las Vegas has seen less than a third of an inch of rain since January, about 24 percent of normal. A snow measuring station in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains west of the city has only 3 percent of the normal snowpack for this time of year.
Ninety percent of Las Vegas' water supply comes from the watershed, where rain and snowmelt collect in the Gallinas River.
Winds and warm temperatures melted the snow early in the mountains and Gallinas watershed, but there wasn't much to melt, Polasko said.
Mayor Alfonso Ortiz said there's less water in the river every year, and Las Vegas doesn't own it all anyway. It's divided among water associations, the city, state and federal agencies and downstream users.
But the problem goes deeper than a drought.
"Anytime you deal with water, there's nothing simple about it," Ortiz said.
Las Vegas has been fighting traditional irrigation associations for years over the amount of water they're allowed to take from the river. The fight remains in litigation, but both sides recently indicated a willingness to mediate, said State Engineer John D'Antonio, whose office handles water issues.
In the meantime, D'Antonio's staff has worked out a schedule for water associations and the city to share water over the next few weeks.
"The best thing they can do right now is stay in their conservation mode and we'll try to make the water go as far as we can for everybody," D'Antonio said.
For the future, Ortiz said Las Vegas has two choices: find someone willing to sell scarce water and pipe it in or clean up brackish underground water. But it's nearly impossible to find water or water rights for sale, and desalinating brackish water would be enormously expensive, he said.
In addition, a reservoir's capacity would have to be increased to store more water, Ortiz. That alone is an estimated $16 million.
The city hasn't figured out the final price tag for solving its water woes, because it doesn't have a firm solution, the mayor said.
Whatever it is, "there's no way in the world we can absorb the total cost," Ortiz said.
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