Deep under the dusty Nevada desert, a modern-day prospector says he has discovered a huge underground river that is larger than the mighty Colorado and carries enough water to quench the thirst of the drought- parched Southwest.
But Wally Spencer won't divulge the location of the hidden river until the state of Nevada agrees to pay him a finder's fee that could surpass $44 million, depending on just how big the river is.
Many scientists are skeptical that the 62-year-old retired chemical engineer has found what others have searched for in vain: an immense underground river that legend says winds through caverns and porous rock beneath Nevada and California before emptying into the Pacific Ocean.
'If he's right, there are going to be a lot of people with egg on their faces,' said Hugh Ricci, Nevada's deputy state engineer.
'It doesn't make sense that volume of water could exist without us knowing about it,' said John James, a University of Nevada geographer who chairs the state's drought advisory committee. 'That's really far- fetched. It sounds ridiculous.'
Spencer insists the river exists, and said he found it in mid-1990 while searching for oil in some Nevada hills.
'This is enough water to make a real difference,' Spencer said. 'If I wasn't absolutely sure, I would have given up a long time ago.'
Spencer said he will not take one penny from the state until he has proven that the river not only exists, but is capable of producing at least 1,500 acre-feet each day -- enough to supply 2.8 million people a year.
He is demanding that the state sign a contract to award him a one- time finder's fee of $2.49 per acre-foot, payable after he demonstrates that the river is real. Water is now selling for about $160 per acre- foot as Nevada and California brace for a seventh straight year of drought.
'If I don't find anything, or the amounts aren't there, or the quality isn't there, they would owe me absolutely nothing. It's no risk for the state,' said Spencer, who runs a consulting firm of retired scientists and engineers in Lake Oswego, Ore.
So far, no one can confirm the discovery -- or debunk it -- because Spencer has refused to disclose its location. The state of Nevada legally owns all water within its borders, regardless of who finds it, and could tap the water without compensating Spencer if the site became known.
Spencer said he does not know where the underground river starts and cannot pinpoint where it ends, although he suspects that it flows into the Pacific Ocean. He said he was able to trace the river for only 6 miles before it plunged too deep for his instruments to measure.
The water, he said, rises from 40,000 feet underground into a cavern just 385 feet from the surface before dropping back into the bowels of the Earth along a fault line.
Spencer said the water could be an ancient river or emanate from the Great Basin aquifer that scientists believe is deep underneath Nevada and Utah. He said his measurements have detected flowing water -- not an underground lake -- capable of producing between 12 million and 18 million acre-feet annually.
By comparison, he said, the Colorado River normally carries 14 million acre-feet of water. Diminished rain and snowfall could shrink Colorado River volume to only 10 million acre-feet this year, he said.
An acre-foot is equal to 325,851 gallons, about the amount of water used by five people in a single-family house with a small garden in one year.
If the underground river exists and it is as big as he suspects, the state of Nevada could owe Spencer between $30 million and $44 million under his proposed contract. While the fee is large, the water could be worth $1.9 billion to $2.8 billion a year in today's market.
'It would be the answer to all the Western water prayers if it is true,' James said.
Nevada would need only a fraction of the water to meet its needs, leaving plenty for California, Arizona and Mexico, water officials said.
'If it was a firm supply, it would take care of all of Southern California's water needs,' said Dee Davis, a spokesman for the California Drought Center.
Spencer is seeking a meeting with Nevada Gov. Bob Miller and other state officials next month to discuss his proposal. The cash-strapped state just struggled through a severe budget crisis that forced Miller to slash government spending, and does not have money to pay the fee that Spencer wants, a spokesman for the governor said.
'I don't know where we would get the money,' said Mike Campbell, a spokesman for Miller. 'We just don't have any excess money in reserve that could be used for that. We would either have to cut government further or raise taxes.'
Other major hurdles exist. State laws now prohibit the sale and interstate transport of water, and the Nevada Legislature would have to rewrite the laws before the state could market the water or give it away.
The project would also have to comply with environmental laws that protect wildlife and habitat.
'With nature, everything has to be in balance,' Ricci said. 'Every time you start pumping from one area, you have an impact somewhere else. '
The state would have to construct a canal or system of pipelines to use the water, and Spencer said it would cost $330 million or more to build a canal to carry the water to Lake Mead, where it could flow into the Colorado River distribution system.
'Here's a project that could put a massive number of people to work, ' he said. 'It puts a whole load of money into the economy for a beneficial project here at home.'
