Transcripts For KLAS Eye On Washington 20160924

News program produced in washington, d. C. Every week eye on washington takes you straight to capitol hill for a discussion with nevadas delegation and other leaders about the federal matters that matter to you. Todays topic, water, water nowhere . The drought crisis in nevada and across the west. My guest today says hes leading efforts on the hill to help end the great water shortage. And he is nevada u. S. Senator harry reid. Thanks so much for being here today. So glad to be with you. Good to see you again, sir. Well, today on eye on washington, were going to learn the severity of the drought problem. Were going to look at the senators many efforts on the hill to turn things around for nevada and across the west. And then later in the show, were going to look at another nevada crisis, the growing problem of homelessness. Well, all or part of 10 counties around reno are in severe drought. Lake mead has suffered a 130foot drop in its surface level the past 16 years. Flow average in april. Thats down from 80 just a month before. In january, las vegas hosted the global water crisis talks. And it was an apt location. Las vegas and nevada in general despite a wet winter continue to struggle mightily with drought conditions. The Drought Monitor which is posted on the website of u. S. Lakes looks at the state drought conditions. Nevadas map currently rans from abnormally dry to exceptional drought. It shows dark red for severely impacted Washoe County and all or most of nine counties around it. And Southern Nevada in nearby counties range from moderate drought to severe drought. Now, senator, its good to see you. Here in washington, of course, we have had a ton of rain lately. My best friend in reno says i dont want to hear about your rain. We would give anything for your rain. Whats the outlook now for we have lots of problems. Its been going on for almost 20 years. I can remember speaking to pat mulory who is an historic figure in the water business in the west. Was on the show with you many times. Yeah. Shes world famous. She really is. She lectures all over the world about water and the lack thereof. And we talked about this. We were initially told its going to go away. Its going to go away. But here it is now you mentioned 16 years. Its at least that. Its a drought. It had such a tremendously adverse impact on the west, especially on nevada. But california, you have seen what Governor Brown has had to do. Sure, sure. That state has 55 million people. Is that right . No. No. Its about 40 million people, but a lot of people. Sure. They are desperate for they grow all that stuff. So its been terribly hurtful to nevada. You have been on my statewide program many times to talk about the drought and water issues in general over the years. What have you seen in recent years about the severity . Well, we have lake powell they suggested five years ago was going to go dry. Lake powell is the largest manmade lake in america. It used to be bigger than lake mead. Mead. And it was about to go dry. Its doing a little better now. We have had some snowpack in the upper colorado. But we have an average, socalled average snowfall, moisture, it evaporates now because of the long standing conditions that we have. So thats a problem. We have massive wildfires that have been created in nevada. The fires and they are talking about listing the sagegrouse which is going to interfere with mining and going to interfere with ranching. Its going to interfere with developers. We have done lots of stuff, spent huge amounts of money on the colorado. We get most of our water out of lake mead for Southern Nevada. And we have had to line ditches. We have had to bank water for arizona. We have done all kinds of things to try to alleviate the water shortage that we have in Southern Nevada. And it haswo well. You know, speaking of that, that friend i mentioned, shes in reno so i hear a lot about the crisis in washoe. Its probably the worst. There arent any really good counties in general. But washoe is really suffering. But statewide, what are some conservation efforts that are going on that you like . Well, what we have done with the water settlement that took 20 years, it was legislation that i wrote here indian tribes, two endangered species. We had a lake that was a very unique lake that was going dry, pyramid lake. Many will do a lot to alleviate that problem. We have another there are only 21 desert terminal lakes in the world. Two of them are in america. They are both in nevada. Walker lake and pyramid lake. And i have devoted a lot of my last four or five years here lake. And i think we are on the way to saving walker lake. So those are some of the issues that we have worked on. There are many, many others. In Southern Nevada, we have replaced much of the lawn. Now people get rebates for putting in desert landscaping. My new home i sold my place and moved to henderson. We were able to take advantage of that. Lawn with desert landscaping. Good for you. Okay. And speaking of everything that you are doing, we are going to talk about some legislative efforts coming up next. When we return, waterworks, the senators efforts to solve the drought problem. The senators efforts to solve the drought problem. Thatll be right after this. announcer youu w wchinin yeyen washington with Marilee Joyce. Heart, whats going on . Im leaving. Not enough. The pressure is too much. I quit i get it. I can do better. Just please. Dont leave [narrator] dont let your heart quit on you. Get your uncontrolled high Blood Pressure to a healthy range before its too late. And welcome back to eye on washington and our look at the war on the severe drought. My guest today is nevada u. S. Senator harry reid. Well, east of the mississippi, you have all these huge rivers, but nevada doesnt have one. In fact, nevada, arizona, california, colorado, new one small one they all have to share and its called the Colorado River. It has to supply them all with water, and it just cant keep up lately. So todays western drought is impacting every one of the states that receive their water from the colorado. Look at california alone. 40 million california residents depend on it. The drought is greatly impacting farmers in nevada and across the west. That means Food Shortages and higher prices at the grocery a little good news on all this came in late april when the senate adopted the reid Water Management amendment to the energy and water appropriations bill. The amendment supports innovative Water Conservation projects in the Colorado River basin. The senator says the aim is to help ensure that every bit of water from the Colorado River is used as efficiently as possible. And, senator, with nevada in a drought for 15 years, no real relief in sight, how does your other western states the tools they need . Well, i cant take all the credit in the world for that. I had help. Dean heller was very good in helping us get that done. Basically, what it says is come up with some new ideas and well be able to come up with some new ideas, a way of conserving water. If you will do that, there is some impact on how we save money for it saves money. Thats what it does. You know, the amendment says, it calls for every bit of water to be used efficiently. How does it do so . Well, i talked about in an earlier segment, we talked about what they do with lawns. Doing everything we can in Southern Nevada to get rid of the lawns, as many as they can. In northern nevada, some of the management going on in that. The water used to be wasted in agriculture. And with the newlands project, it was awful what was going on. That the water is efficiently used. The irrigation district can no longer be a glutton in the area as they have for so many years. They owe tons of water to the indians, that they stole actually from the indians. They have to pay that back. Thats conservation in one way. You have droughtrelated bills, but you have had many bills that are related to water. And, you know, one recent work of yours was with senators cardin and boxer, and its called the Water Infrastructure resiliency and sustainability act. And that was really your reason behind it was the nations crumbling infrastructure, right . Yeah. Marilee, im glad we were able to do that. But that is only an indication of the 2 trillion we are in deficit, that we need to do to take care of our rivers. Im so sorry. Our highways, our bridges, our we are so far behind. And we have washington, d. C. And these old pipes. Some of them go back to the civil war. And we have leaks here all winter long when it freezes. It even happens in the summer. Thats the way it is all over the country. In atlanta, georgia, i had one of the mayors testify at a hearing i held a number of years go. He said im going to be glad when my job is over because its only a question of time until atlanta is in desperate trouble, crisis problem with the pipes are old. Some of them are made out of clay. New york, every place, the same problem with infrastructure. Thats what this legislation will help address. So this would address much of it . And youre saying a lot more would need to be done . All this. This is just a step in the right direction. There is so much more needs to be done. So much more needs to be done. Are other things being proposed . You, its getting hard to do because my republican colleagues arent willing to spend any money on it. So thats the situation we have. For every billion dollars we spend in infrastructure, we create 50,000 highpaying jobs. And theres a lot of lowerpaying jobs spin off from that. We need to spend more money because its good for the economy and it would help not only would it help the economy with jobs, but also help the peace and safety of our whole united states. In other water news, you met recently with mr. John entsminger of the Southern Nevada water authority. And you talked about ways to manage water supplies, isnt that right . Yeah. We have been working with him. Hes the replacement of pat mulory. We have been working on this for decades, at least two decades. Because when the water was allocated on the Colorado River, as you have indicated, little, but its mighty. But we have the dams now so it doesnt overflow like it used to with floods. But we have been doing everything we can to figure out a way that we can get maximum efficiency out of that because most of the water goes to california. They have been using more than they should. Now were trying to rein that back. Arizona, weve got a good deal with them. They still cant use all the water thats been allocated to them. But they have been willing to work with us. And we have a water Banking System that we are ung them. When we are in a drought situation, emergency situation i shouldnt say drought. The water that we banked, they will allow us to pull that out of the ground. Finally, before we close out this segment we are running out of time, but i cant let the water part of the show end without talking about lake tahoe. Thats always a big issue of yours. And i think another anniversary coming up this summer, your lake tahoe restoration summit. What are we now . Year and its going to be a blockbuster. We are not ready to make the announcement yet, but it is going to be stunning. Sure you dont want to make it here on this show . Im sure i dont. All right. It is going to be i would ask everybody to take a look at august 30th. Okay. At lake tahoe. Its going to be not only national, it will be international news. You know, when you had that, you invited and had as your guest president clinton, Vice President gore, his epa head and three cabinet secretaries and you and the leaders of california. It was a big deal. We have done a lot in the 20 years since i started that. We have spent more than 1 billion in the lake tahoe basin and the lake water is more clear. The clarity has been coming back. Its been we have just done so much to stop the situation we are having there with pollution. We still have a problem with fires and im worried about that, especially with fire season approaching. Going to shift topics to another nevada crisis. And thats homelessness across the state. And the senators work to help end it. Boy this is the story of a boy who was very sensitive to lights and sounds. So he built secret hiding places where nothing could get in. The boy didnt like looking people in the eye. It made him feel uncomfortable. One day, he found out he had something called autism. And slowly he learned how to live with it better. Announcer Early Intervention can make a lifetime of difference. And welcome back to eye on washington. In this segment, were going to talk about the growing problem of homelessness across nevada. We have been visiting today with nevada u. S. Senator harry reid. Well, far too many people in nevada and throughout the country dont have a place to call home. Everything in its power to provide them with the help they need. So he says he was happy to learn in may that the u. S. Department of housing and urban development is awarding nevada 3. 6 million in grants to fight homelessness. And those grants follow a first round of hud funding last march. So a total of 15. 5 million in grants to end homelessness in nevada communities. The nevada grants are part of a 355 million in hud funding awarded to more than 1200 Homeless Housing and Service Programs across the u. S. , puerto rico, guam and the u. S. Virgin islands. So, senator, when you got the good news about more funding, you told the press the grants will have, quote, a Significant Impact on the silver state. Nevada was hit so very hard by the recession. And many were left homeless due to foreclosures. And homelessness already was a problem in some areas of the state. So 15. 5 million sounds like a is it adequate . How far does that go . Well, it will help. But its certainly inadequate. We have had for even before the devastating recession, we had problems with homelessness. And certainly, that exacerbated the problem big time. But things have gotten better. Now, you know Southern Nevada is a nice place to live. The weather is warmer. And first, im talking about somebody thats homeless. Northern nevada, its a little more difficult. Its so cold. But one of the big issues we have fought for years now is veterans homelessness. And we have made significant strides in that regard, but not as much in other areas. You know, many years ago i went in disguise and spent a couple of nights, went in a wandering around with the homeless. And i came to the conclusion way back then that the homeless werent a bunch of bums, you know, that could work if they wanted to. You had some that had emotional problems. Theres no question about that. Some had got in the position they are in because of their addiction. In some areas its gotten worse now. Sure. But a lot of the problems we had with people, they were down and out. And thats the way it is now. Peoplet homeless. They dont want to be homeless. And so what we have to do is try to figure out a way to bring them back. And theres some innovative programs going on all over the country and some in nevada that have been very helpful. You know, im glad you brought up the homeless veterans. I was going to mention that. Another homeless worry i have covered here on this show as well and that im certain is a concern of yours as well. Statistics find that nevada homeless are in desperate need of help but they are not coming forward to get it. And the reports on this say there is a different sense of, well, maybe i guess the word would be pride in the rural communities. It kind of prevents them from letting themselves reach out for help. You know, how do we reach these people . Well, i dont think the Homeless People in las vegas and reno and other places have any less pride than oh, no, not at all. Than someone in rural nevada. But its harder to reach them. They dont really reach out as frankly, there are not the facilities to help that we have in bigger communities. Thats the problems we have. Do the grants reach everywhere . No. The rural homeless is a problem not only in nevada but around america. Hopefully maybe some more funding it reach the rurals as well. Yeah. Thank you so much. And when we return, it is mailbag time. And jason a. Of las vegas, were going to read your letter, get an answer from the and were back with our closing segment of eye on washington. Its our mailbag segment. Its time to read one of your letters. We ask our guest to respond to you right here on the air. And, senator, ive got a letter to you from jason a. Of las vegas. And heres what he writes. You have insisted that the urban Area Security Initiative Funding formula include transient and tourist populations. Why should it include nonpermanent residents for its Grant Funding qualifications . Someone comes to nevada, we must take care of them just like we take care of one of us. We are a city based on tourism. Anyone ever thinks we dont take care of our tourists, wed be in big trouble. Okay. Jason will understand that im sure, keeping everybody safe. Thank you. Thanks so for being here. You know, you can send a letter to the senator or another member of the nevada delegation. Just go to our website joycecommunications. Com. And while youre there check out all the federal news that impacts you in nevada. Like us on facebook. Follow me on twitter. And catch up with any shows you may have missed on our youtube page. Thats it for today. Thanks for joining us on eye on washington. Im Marilee Joyce in announcer the following is a paid presentation for the Nick Vertucci real estate academys fortunes in flipping system. If youre looking to make money while taking control of your financial future, then listen up. Nick vertucci, selfmade millionaire, has a lifechanging opportunity for you. As the hof realestate radio show, author, and one of tvs most trusted realestate investment experts, nick is hosting a unique, free twohour workshop, teaching people like you how to build wealth in todays realestate market. Youll learn how to flip and hold incomegenerating properties. Whether you have great credit, no credit, lots of money, or little to no money, nicks system can work for you. 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