Water May Soon Become A Federal Issue

If the States can't come to sensible water agreements soon, the Federal Government may get involved. 

It only makes sense that if inland States pay for desalination facilities off the coast, they should get more water from the rivers that lead to the coast. And coastal communities should support this because they too will get more water.

But how much more water? 1%? 5%? 20%? 50%? Negotiations for how much more water coastal communities get than upriver communities could lead to standoffs that could last for years, if not decades. If the States can't agree to providing more water for everybody, the Federal Government may step in to set guidelines.

But then again, there may be other reasons the Federal Government may get involved.

Developing a new technology is expensive. Developing renewable energy powered offshore desalination is no exception. 

 

Coastal military bases, such as Camp Pendleton, are considering desalination. Herein lies an opportunity for the use of Defense monies to develop renewable energy powered offshore desalination facilities.

Also; Federal subsidies for desalination would be a sensible use of taxpayer monies. 

And if that doesn't work, Nevada still can sue to get the Federal Government to pick up at least part of the bill. Nuclear Tests polluted a vast amount of underground water under the Nevada Test Site. Nevadans didn't ask to be the sacrificial nuclear test site area. Which means that the Federal Government owes Nevada for the water they polluted. 

Either way, Southern Nevadans could save 15 to 20 billion dollars on the watergrab pipeline and get significant Federal financial help designing/developing/building desalination facilities off the coast. Moreover, SNWA would only have to pay for desalination facilities as needed. Which means far less money up front from people in Nevada who won't really benefit from these water projects.

The people who already live in Las Vegas already have enough water. This water is for growth. The people of Las Vegas are being told they have to foot the bill for water someone else. At the present population, that amounts to almost $10,000 for every man, woman, and child in the Las Vegas Valley. When the watergrab pipeline bills start to come in, they aren't going to be happy. But if smaller desalination projects can be built, as needed, new residents can pay the bills for their own water. We shouldn't have to ask the Federal Government to force SNWA to be more fair. But apparently, it has come down to that.