Henderson wants chief to sign separation deal
Watson yet to accept agreement
Henderson officials want police Chief Latesha Watson to voluntarily resign as the city’s top law enforcement officer on May 9, according to a separation agreement obtained by the Las Vegas Review-journal.
On March 14, the chief was placed on paid leave indefinitely and given three weeks to decide whether she wants to sign the agreement, according to the document.
Watson has not signed the paperwork, and it is not in effect, according to the city. A Henderson spokeswoman declined comment.
Watson could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
The chief also was offered a payout of more than $24,500 for paid time off in exchange for signing the agreement, which bars her from making any claims against the city. The agreement contains a nondisparagement clause that allows the city to fine her
in Phoenix to sign a letter to Congress requesting federal legislation enacting the Drought Contingency Plans negotiated by the states over the past four years.
In a statement, the water authority said the commitments made by water users will help preserve the health of the river system and protect water supplies across the basin.
“With nearly two decades of severe drought conditions on the Colorado River and continuing uncertainty associated with climate change, the critical importance of the (Drought Contingency Plans) cannot be understated,” the statement said.
In a news conference after the signing, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman confirmed that the “hard work is done.”
“I commend the basin states and key water contractors on the completion of this historic milestone,” she said.
Cuts and more cuts
Earlier this year, after several previous deadlines had come and gone, she gave the states until March 19 to reach a deal or face possible water curtailments as part of a federal drought response she vowed to impose by August.
The now-completed plans call for Nevada, Arizona and, eventually, California to voluntarily reduce river use and leave more water in Lake Mead, while Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming send more water downstream to prop up Lake Powell and protect hydropower generation at Glen Canyon Dam.
Under the first round of annual reductions, which could start in January, Arizona would give up 192,000 acre-feet of water. Nevada would give up 8,000 acre-feet, enough to supply about 16,000 average valley homes for just over a year.
Mexico agreed to its own set of drought cuts under a separate deal struck in 2017.
California would join in the voluntary cuts only if Lake Mead’s water level drops another 45 feet from where it is now.
The Imperial Irrigation District won’t be forgoing any water. Board members for the massive agricultural water district met behind closed doors Monday and emerged defiant. They said they would not join any deal that excludes funding to address the unfolding crisis at California’s largest lake.
In a statement, board President
Erik Ortega said his organization “stands with the Salton Sea, even when no one else will.”
The shallow, briny lake is replenished with agricultural runoff, but recent changes in water allocations are expected to speed its decline, increasing the salt content of the water and fouling the air in nearby communities with blowing dust from the dry lake bed.
Siding with the sea
In December, Imperial board members announced they wouldn’t support the Colorado River drought plan without $200 million in federal matching funds to help implement California’s 10-year plan to stabilize the Salton Sea.
Ortega said Monday that by moving ahead without Imperial, “what the other parties are saying is that a plan that eliminates the river’s largest single water user and ignores the environmental challenges posed by the Salton Sea still checks all the other boxes for them. … What they’re also saying is that getting the (Drought Contingency Plans) done is more important than getting it right.”
Peter Nelson, chairman of the Colorado River Board of California, said Tuesday in Phoenix that everyone would have been better off if Imperial