Water managers in Las Vegas and Los Angeles are poised to adopt a drought-driven cash deal to send enough water to serve some 300,000 homes from the Lake Mead reservoir to Southern California.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority board is due on Thursday to consider an agreement for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to pay $45 million in return for 150,000 acre-feet of water.
The MWD board is set to consider approving the deal next week.
Metropolitan general manager Jeffrey Kightlinger calls the agreement a bucket-for-bucket deal that'll allow the Las Vegas agency to "bank" water in California that it's not currently using.
The Las Vegas authority can buy it back when it needs it.
Meanwhile, drought-parched California will get to use the water now.