To Colorado Basin water nerds’ favorite question – What’s Pat up to? – we have an answer.

According to the Las Vegas Sun, former Las Vegas water czar Pat Mulroy is joining the Brookings Mountain West project:

Robert Lang, director of Brookings Mountain West, said the shrinking Colorado River is one of the most critical issues facing the Western U.S., as it threatens the water supply to Las Vegas and dozens of other cities.

Without a stable supply of water, large portions of the country’s economy, including much of its agricultural sector, would be threatened, with future growth in the region crippled.

Brookings Mountain West began fundraising to hire a water expert before it knew Mulroy was available as part of a plan to direct more resources to studying water issues. When Mulroy announced she was retiring, she immediately became a perfect fit for the job, Lang said.

“She seemed like the most qualified person in the country to hire,” he said.

Mountain West is a partnership between the Brookings Institution and the University of Nevada Las Vegas, with a focus on the future economy of the intermountain west region. (Here’s a piece I did on some of their work back in 2008.)

In addition to the Brookings-UNLV project, Mulroy will be affiliated with the Desert Research Insitute in Reno, according to the Sun.