After years of negotiations, the United States and Mexico have struck a deal that could keep more water in Lake Mead and help improve water efficiency and the environment south of the border.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports the landmark five-year agreement would permit Mexico to store some of its yearly Colorado River allotment in Lake Mead for future use.
It also paves the way for the U.S. government and several municipal water agencies, to invest in infrastructure improvements in Mexico in return for a share of the water such projects would save and for restoring Colorado River flow to the Gulf of California, albeit on a reduced, experimental scale.
Mexico now will be subject to the same criteria as the states, permitting Mexico for the first time to access additional water when it’s available but reduce its deliveries when it’s not.
The largest benefit to Nevada is a potential boost in Lake Mead, which is the source of 90 percent of the Las Vegas Valley’s drinking water supply.
The package of five interlaced agreements is now making the rounds so it can be approved by all the parties involved.
