Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Las Vegas water use dropped when businesses closed. Now, it’s going back up

Strip

John Locher / AP

A man cools off in a water mist along the Las Vegas Strip, Thursday, July 26, 2018.

Las Vegas water use decreased rapidly starting in mid-March, around the same time that Gov. Steve Sisolak instituted a stay-at-home order and closed most nonessential businesses. But since late April, it has gradually been increasing to more typical levels, Las Vegas Valley Water District data shows.

While average daily water use steadily went up over the course of March, April and May in 2017-2019, water use this year declined at times in March and April, probably due in part to the shutdown of the state’s economy, said Bronson Mack, the water district spokesperson.

“In general terms, we saw a pretty significant drop in water use at the start of the stay-at-home orders,” Mack wrote in an email. “This was primarily due to the overall immediate drop in economic activity and not just a closure (of) local resort properties.”

For example, between the second and third weeks of March, average daily water use dropped from 223.68 million gallons to 209.17 million gallons, a 6.5% decrease. That’s a marked difference from the trend seen in 2017-2019, when average daily water use increased by about 10.2% between those two weeks, according to water district data.

Throughout the rest of March and the first four weeks of April, average daily water use was at least 13% lower than it was for corresponding weeks in 2017-2019. During the second week of April, water use was 19.9% lower than it was in 2017-2019.

But by the fifth week of April, water use shot up again to 291.77 million gallons, just 4.8% lower than it was that week in 2017-2019. In the second week of May, which is the most recent data compiled by the water district, water use was 1.44% lower than it was in 2017-2019, suggesting a return to “normal” water use levels.

The data reflects the importance of conserving water as Las Vegans continue to stay home more than usual, Mack said.

“We’re spending more time at home now, and so we have some opportunities to put a little bit of time in to make sure our irrigation systems are functioning properly,” he said. “This is a great time to get to know your sprinkler clock, how it works and how to adjust it.”

Although it’s likely that the slowdown of economic activity during the pandemic reduced water use in March and April, a variety of factors, including the weather, could be bringing it back up again, Mack said.

Temperatures in the valley exceeded 100 degrees in May this year, which is relatively unusual. When the weather gets warmer, evaporative cooling units in homes and businesses require more water to operate.

“As you see that increase in temperatures, you see those evaporative cooling systems working harder, and therefore they’re going to be taking in or consuming more water in the process,” Mack said.

In addition, watering restrictions changed May 1, allowing customers to use water outside at designated times six days a week rather than three, he noted.

The reopening of some businesses since early May could also be contributing to the increase in water use. Recently, water use has started to go up again in the resort corridor — also known as the Las Vegas Strip — probably because hotel-casinos are getting ready to reopen soon, Mack said.

Overall, resorts on the Strip use about 7% of all water in the Las Vegas area, while residential customers use about 60% of water, according to the water district. Since being forced to shut down due to coronavirus, resorts’ water use had “virtually stopped” until very recently, Mack said.

“There was still climate control in some of their buildings, and they still had landscaping to care for,” Mack said. “But what we’re seeing now is some uptick in resort water use, which indicates to us that they’re preparing to reopen.”

The Las Vegas Valley Water District services approximately 70% of the valley’s geographic area and population, said Mack, who also works for the valleywide Southern Nevada Water Authority. The water district covers much of Las Vegas and unincorporated, urban Clark County, but doesn’t include Henderson or North Las Vegas.

“It’s a good proxy for what we’d see communitywide,” he said.