Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

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For Want <em>of</em> Water

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— Interactive by Zach Wise

Las Vegas was first settled for its springs, springs that made it an oasis in the desert. Although those springs have decades since run dry, water is still the most import resource to Las Vegas and the dry Southwest.

And by all indications the region is only going to get dryer. Scientists predict devastating effects from global warming, conservationists are calling for a halt to growth in Southern Nevada as a way to preserve supplies and water managers are looking to ever more creative ways to reduce reliance on the overburdened Colorado River. A Colorado River reservoir at Lake Mead is the source of 90 percent of the valley's water supply. Water levels there have fallen steadily for nearly a decade.

Now Southern Nevada water managers say they can no longer rely on the river so heavily, and must construct a massive pipeline to draw water stored underground for centuries in rural Nevada to Las Vegas. They say no amount of conservation can replace the need for this backup source of drinking water.

Opponents say the effects of the pumping would be devastating and that the plan would sacrifice a rural, ranching way of life in Eastern Nevada for casinos and tract home in the south.

But it's not only the lack of water that worries environmentalists and water managers alike. It's also water quality, the endangered species that life in Southern Nevada's rivers and streams and the recreation opportunities that make the region's national parks so popular.

Water is one of the most politically charged issues in Nevada today, and it's certainly one of the most important.

Phoebe Sweet

Residential Water Use Interactive

How much water do we use in Las Vegas? Tour the valley to examine residential water consumption in neighborhoods and search the usage for homes in the Sun's water interactive.

Archive highlights

The Equation: No water, no growth

Sun, Jun 15, 2008

The congressman from American Samoa was confused. Could Senator Reid clarify for him again who owned the land around Las Vegas? Nevada? The U.S. government? Bugsy Siegel?

Satiating a booming city

Sun, Jun 1, 2008

How had it come to this? A thriving region of nearly 2 million people was running out of water even as the mighty Colorado River flowed just 30 miles away. ...

The Chosen One

Sun, Jun 8, 2008

The men who manage urban water districts in the West tend to come out of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Who better to understand how and where Western water is ...

Water: The more you use, the more you’ll have to pay

Tue, Apr 8, 2008

The county’s largest water district is adopting “conservation pricing.” The concept is simple: If you want people to use less water, make it more expensive, especially for those who use ...

All stories

To tackle overpumping crisis, new program offers cash for water rights in Nevada

Fri, Dec 29, 2023

A conservation program financed by the federal government is hoping to lure property owners in parts of Nevada to surrender their groundwater rights, but the eligible landowners must decide before ...

Officials commit to deals to conserve Colorado River water

Wed, Dec 13, 2023

California water districts and Bureau of Reclamation officials today commemorated a series of 21 water conservation agreements that will save 1.6 million acre feet of Colorado River water through 2026 ...

US legislation proposes $25 million boost for Las Vegas Wash improvements

Tue, Dec 12, 2023

A proposal in the U.S. Senate would bring $25 million in additional funding to Southern Nevada to help combat drought and fund erosion control projects around the ...

Southern Nevada groups won't join lawsuit over PFAS forever chemicals

Tue, Nov 28, 2023

The Boulder City Council on Tuesday voted to stay out of class action lawsuits against two companies accused of contaminating water with cancer-causing chemicals ...

Nevada's strategy to conserve water may be used by Utah nonprofit to save the Great Salt Lake

Mon, Nov 27, 2023

A Utah nonprofit group is proposing legal protections and water conservation measures like Nevada’s to save the rapidly drying Great Salt Lake. The United States ...

$61 million projects to rein in Las Vegas Wash erosion planned to begin in 2024

Fri, Nov 3, 2023

The Southern Nevada Water Authority plans to build $61 million of aquatic “speed bumps” to slow the flow of water down the Las Vegas Wash, the first of five planned ...

New federal plan aims to ensure Colorado River’s sustainability through 2026

Wed, Oct 25, 2023

A record-breaking winter snowpack this year and the Lower Colorado River Basin states’ recent agreement to cut water use should be enough to protect Lake Mead and Lake Powell from ...

Despite a wet El Niño forecast for Southern Nevada, Lake Mead unlikely to see water level rise

Wed, Oct 25, 2023

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting higher-than-usual rainfall for parts of Nevada, California and Arizona this winter, but that rainfall isn’t expected to translate to ...

Henderson mayor talks continued growth, water plans in State of City address

Thu, Oct 19, 2023

Henderson Mayor Michelle Romero unveiled the city’s newest effort to promote water conservation through an initiative city leaders are calling, “H2One.”

Southern Nevada Water Authority receives $29 million for conservation in grants

Mon, Oct 2, 2023

The Southern Nevada Water Authority will bolster its new septic system conversion program and ramp up its grass replacement efforts with two state grants totaling $29 million.

Videos

Dry Town, Dry Future
Dry Town, Dry Future
For 60 years, the town of St. Thomas lay beneath the waters of Lake Mead. ...

Slideshows

Lost and found
The town of St. Thomas was abandoned to the rising waters of Lake Mead in ...
Fighting an invader
A beetle’s selective appetite for tamarisk trees makes it well suited to fight the invasive ...