Formation of the SNWA: Cooperation in Demand Management

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Contributed by: Margaret Garcia

Article last edited 13 May 2013 by Margaret
Article originally added by Margaret

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The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) was formed out of the water crisis that stuck the Las Vegas Valley in the late 1980s . In the late 1980’s, the opening of the first large scale resort casinos in the city, such as the Mirage Casino, sparked unprecedented growth in population, tourism and in water demands . The structure of water allocations put neighboring cities in competition for water resources and gave no incentive for conservation or cooperation. The Nevada Colorado River Commission’s policy for allocating to municipalities water was based on the amount used in the previous year . This encouraged wasteful practices as each municipality was primarily concerned with maintaining its ability to grow . In an extreme example, Boulder City uncapped its fire hydrants to ensure that it would continue to receive its full allocation . Another obstacle to cooperation was the system of priority rights governed the priority of allocations when supplies ran short; this meant that water could be flowing in the streets of Las Vegas while Henderson ran dry .

In the late 1980’s the municipalities of the Southern Nevada began to come up against their water supply limits and realized the need to work regionally to control water demands . An external study, completed by Water Resources Management Inc. (WRMI) in 1991, found that at the current usage rates the Las Vegas Valley would exhaust their ground and surface water supplies by the mid-1990s . The WRMI study recommended a more cooperative approach to water management . While discussing the WRMI study over dinner, employees of the Las Vegas Valley Water District (LVVWD), Henderson and North Las Vegas utilities developed the idea of creating a regional super-agency to carry out WRMI’s recommendation for cooperation; they agreed to pitch the idea to the leadership and it was approved .

The five water suppliers and two wastewater purveyors of the region (Boulder City, Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, LVVWD, Clark County Water Reclamation District and Big Bend Water District) came together to form the Southern Nevada Water Authority . In order to regionally manage water, the five suppliers combined their water rights and got rid of the system of priority rights . In the authority all member agencies have equal power regardless of size and each of the water suppliers has veto power over decisions affecting the group . This consideration assuaged the fears of smaller utilities of being dominated by the LVVWD. Each utility ran its own operations but infrastructure, conservation and planning were implemented by the SNWA regionally . Each municipality and county covered by the SNWA is also required to follow the agreed upon conservation standards. The agreement that the seven agencies entered into when the SNWA was formed was unprecedented in the Western United States; five water purveyors gave up their priority water rights, one of the most fundamental concepts in western water law . Success in forming this agreement can be attributed in part to the gravity of the problem as according to the WRMI report serious shortages were only a few years away. However, key personalities that inspired trust and confidence also played a role. The first head of the SNWA, Walter Fite, was replaced with in the first year because he approached the problem with an attitude of division and competition; he was replaced by Patricia Mulroy who developed trust within the member agencies through transparency by, for example, sharing proprietary hydrological information from the LVVWD with the all of the agencies .

SNWA initially allocated water to member agencies based on a formula for growth potential recommended by WRMI but growth within the city of Las Vegas outpaced all projections . The result was that some agencies were short on water supplies while others had more than they needed . The SNWA, deciding that a more flexible allocation scheme was needed, decided to rid of agency allocations altogether and rework the distribution system so that water was delivered based on demand . This was a profound departure from traditional western water management; although the need for a more efficient allocation scheme certainly contributed to the decision, it is not clear why the SNWA members were able to reach an agreement to abandon priority rights while most western cities and farmers guard these rights intensely.

The ability to cooperate enabled a regional approach to conservation which contributed to a substantial decrease in per capita demands since the early 1990’s. In addition to aiding regional management, coordination enabled Southern Nevada to speak with one voice and better negotiate with other stakeholders on the Colorado River. Shortly after its formation the SNWA was able to negotiate the use of Nevada’s remaining Colorado River allotment and return flow credits . Then, in 1995, SNWA became the agency acting on behalf of the state of Nevada for Colorado River negotiations replacing the Colorado River Commission of Nevada because the SNWA had become the major water delivery agency in the state .

The formation of the SNWA stems from the stakeholders recognition of their interdependence. As evidenced by the crisis in the late 1980’s the stakeholders need for cooperation, and therefore their willingness to cooperate, increases in proportion to the stresses on the system . Examining this case through the values, principles and tools framework, the underlying value in the formation of the SNWA is to provide reliable supply and enable regional growth. The principle is that regional cooperation and coordination is the most effective way to accomplish this; the SNWA is the tool used to implement coordination and cooperation.