Tuesday, June 9, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Sun Topics
Sun Archives
- What does the neon 'DST' sign mea at the top of the California? (6-2-2009)
- Why does NV Energy need to assign customers a 19-digit account number? (5-26-2009)
- Is the Las Vegas Valley Water District still looking for water wasters (5-19-2009)
- What's the speed limit on Lake Mead? (5-12-2009)
- Who produces the Fremont Street Experience shows? (5-5-2009)
- Why don't Las Vegas homes have basements? (4-28-2009)
- How do I remove the smell of dog urine from fake grass? (4-24-2009)
- Does Las Vegas have a film board for TV shows and movies being filmed here? (4-14-2009)
- Why is the Fifth Street School on Las Vegas Boulevard? (4-7-2009)
- Why aren't bad road repairs being fixed? (3-31-2009)
Mr. Sun,
Where does the water for The Lakes come from?
•••
The man-made body of water that gives the community its name is filled with tap water.
Like Mr. Sun’s Members Only jacket, the lake south of Sahara Avenue and west of Durango Drive is, according to water officials, a relic of the mid-1980s.
When construction began on The Lakes, local governments justified and maintained their allocation of Colorado River water by using it — all of it. A man-made lake was considered as good a use as any at the time.
The creation of the Southern Nevada Water Authority changed that equation, bringing a regional approach to water use and tougher conservation laws.
“You can divide the valley between that which was built before the early 1990s and afterward,” said Water Authority spokesman J.C. Davis. “The new Las Vegas is infinitely more efficient than the old Las Vegas.”
The changes included less turf, drip irrigation and low-flow plumbing fixtures. The authority didn’t have to ban man-made lakes. The state Legislature took care of that in 1989.
(To support the point that their strategy has worked, water officials say that as 400,000 new residents moved here over the past six years, annual water use declined by 20.5 billion gallons.)
The Water Authority still fields angry calls from residents wondering why The Lakes continues to exist in a valley where you can get a ticket for watering your lawn on the wrong day.
But Davis said there isn’t a simple solution.
“People bought property there in 1983 and the value is based, in part, on it being near a lake, whether it should have ever existed in the first place or not,” he said. “If you drain the lake you’re going to gut these property values. It’s not something you can be cavalier about.”
Questions for Mr. Sun can be sent to [email protected].
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy