City’s water use beyond the pale

Boulder City’s Council voted Aug. 27 to exceed Southern Nevada Water Authority-mandated and city council-approved water usage levels at its municipal golf course. Golfers will pay a surcharge for excess consumption.

The city claims the new fine revenues will be used for water conservation projects, yet those projects won’t begin to save enough water to compensate for excess turf irrigation.

Wouldn’t it be less complicated and more productive to reduce water usage at the course?

The council has failed to create meaningful water conservation projects targeted at city government’s own excessive water usage after months of dithering. The insignificant proposals brought forward had no attached costs, funding sources, projected water savings or timelines for implementation. Boulder City’s per capita water consumption is more than three times the level of Las Vegas Valley communities.

The city’s representative on the SNWA Governing Board, Councilman Steve Walton, has been unwilling and unable to lead a comprehensive and substantive effort to reduce the city’s considerable water consumption at its own facilities since election in November of 2022. Unfortunately, the board appointed him as its representative on the Colorado River Commission, the body responsible for negotiating with other states and the Bureau of Reclamation for Southern Nevada’s water allocation.

When will Boulder City do its part? Shouldn’t all water users (including governments) do what they can to conserve, rather than ignoring or exempting themselves from the official water conservation standards they are constantly nagging the citizenry and businesses to follow?