Las Vegas Facing Severe Water Shortage Warning
EDITOR'S NOTE: Our weekly series "Vegas Myths Busted" is published every Monday with a bonus Flashback Friday edition. This week's installment originally ran on January 13, 2023.
Many assume that Las Vegas, because of its proximity to Lake Mead, faces the worst consequences of the dwindling water supply in the area. However, their location actually protects the city from water shortages.
Currently, Lake Mead is at 27% capacity and is at its lowest level since it was filled for the first time in 1937. Despite this, Las Vegas is one of the last cities in the Southwest that will experience a severe water shortage.
One of the main reasons for this is the eight years of reserves the city has stockpiled to prepare for water emergencies. Some of this reserve is stored in a groundwater aquifer, while the rest is part of Lake Mead's water supply. On the other hand, San Diego's water authority had only a six-month supply when they made an estimation in September 2022.
This doesn't mean that Las Vegas won't run out of water eventually. Some scenarios in the Southern Nevada Water Authority's (SNWA) 50-year water resource plan suggest that reserves will need to be used in the next few decades. However, not all scenarios require the use of these reserves.
What sets Las Vegas apart is its commitment to water conservation. Since the current drought began in 2002, the region has never completely used its annual water allotment. Visitors might be misled by the lavish displays of fountains, golf courses, and aquariums in the resorts, but they represent just a fraction of the total water used. In fact, resort hotels use only 6% of the total water consumed in the region. This is because some of the water comes from private groundwater sources, and all indoor water is recycled, treated, and returned to Lake Mead.
The SNWA, which provides water for 2.2 million people in Southern Nevada and also manages water resources, recently introduced new water restrictions while considering future measures. These were implemented to reduce water use to 86 gallons per user per day by 2035. Golf courses must use one-third less water by 2024, and no new residential swimming pools can exceed 600 square feet.
In 2017, SNWA installed a new deep water intake pipe and pumping station at 860 feet above sea level at Lake Mead. The two previous intakes, installed in 1971 and 2000 respectively, are no longer functional due to their position above the water's surface.
A two-year projection by the federal Bureau of Reclamation predicts that Lake Mead's water level could drop to 992 feet above sea level by the end of July 2024. The latest five-year forecast suggests that reaching "dead pool" (895 feet) is highly unlikely in the next five years. Reaching dead pool would mean that gravity will no longer allow water to be released downstream. If this happens, it would affect regions like Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, Tucson, and Mexico, but Upstream regions like Denver, Salt Lake City, and Albuquerque would not be impacted.
Interestingly, Las Vegas would benefit from this situation, since unused water that's no longer released downstream would significantly increase water conservation.
According to Corey Enus of the SNWA, "You could literally go to every hotel room on the Strip, turn on every faucet, flush every toilet, and that's not going to deplete from the amount of water that we withdraw from the Colorado River." This is because of the reserves and effective water management in the city.
Las Vegas appears to be well prepared and equipped to deal with the potential consequences of dwindling water supplies in the region.
Dispelling this notion doesn't imply that Las Vegas can never face water shortage, nor does it condone California, Arizona, and Mexico depleting the Colorado River.
Enus emphasized, "Water conservation is an ongoing process, not a final achievement. It's crucial for the Colorado River Basin's sustainability that every individual within it constantly seeks methods to minimize water usage."
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Source: www.casino.org
