Misconceptions of Nevada Water Use
From Glen Canyon Dam AMP
SOURCE: Review Journal- two-new-parks-may-add-criticism-las-vegans-waste-water
- “People need to be accountable for the water they are using, and I think we are accountable. I don’t know of any other city in the country that’s doing more than we are to cut down our water use on a per capita basis.”
- In 1990, the average valley resident consumed 347 gallons of water per day. Last year, that number shrank to 219 gallons
- In the past decade alone, the community has reduced its overall water consumption by one-third even while adding 400,000 new residents.
- The community has banned front lawns at new homes, imposed landscape watering restrictions, clamped down on fountains, misters and car washes, and plowed about $200 million into conservation initiatives.
- The turf rebate program alone saves 9 billion gallons of water a year, Bennett says. To date, roughly 165 million square feet of grass has been removed from valley homes and businesses. That would be enough to form an 18-inch-wide roll of sod stretching about 85 percent of the way around the Earth.
- The average Las Vegas home goes through about 150,000 gallons of water annually.
- If Wet ’n’ Wild’s projected water use is spread out among 300,000 visitors a year, it equates to about one 10-minute shower per person, Bennett says. That’s less water than you would use if you let your children run through the backyard sprinklers for two minutes, he says.
- (In response to critics) J.C. Davis, a water authority spokesman, says such rhetoric conveniently ignores the reality on the Colorado River.
Utah is home to roughly 100,000 more people than Nevada but enjoys more than five times as much water from the Colorado.
- In fact, Nevada’s annual allocation of 300,000 acre-feet is the smallest by far among the seven Colorado River states, and almost every drop goes to supply drinking water to more than 70 percent of the state’s population. No other state relies so heavily on the river to provide water to its residents.
- Davis says Las Vegas will always be criticized regardless of what the community does to conserve. To some people, this desert city’s very existence is an indefensible waste of water."
BELLAGIO FOUNTAIN TAPS GROUNDWATER WELL
SOURCE: Review Journal- two-new-parks-may-add-criticism-las-vegans-waste-water
- The fountain doesn’t use river water.
- Though the rest of Las Vegas gets about 90 percent of its water supply from the Colorado by way of Lake Mead, the Bellagio’s signature feature is fed by an old groundwater well once used to irrigate the golf course at the Dunes.
- Bennett says the resort corridor as a whole drives Nevada’s economic engine while consuming less water per guest than a typical Holiday Inn in another city.
Additional Info: “They see the fountains, they see the water displays and they say oh what a waste of water,” said Mulroy. “But the entire Las Vegas strip, which is the largest employer in the state of Nevada, bar none, uses just 'three percent of the water, that’s it. “ LINK
Lake Mead: Scientists have identified 92 species of water dependent birds and 15 species of fish.
- During the summer, water from ground wells supplements the H2O supply from the Colorado River and Lake Mead to meet the spike in demand.
- News 3_Some Vegas Valley residents are seeing a difference in water
- (Las Vegas Valley Water District Spokesperson: Bronson Mack)
- Mack says there are 76 wells across the valley. Many pump up ground water which feeds into a network of pipes that distribute drinking water to customers.
- During the summer, the ground wells can produce 175 million gallons of water a day.
- Talking points from Press Release on 90 by 20
- Not all water used in these cities comes from the Colorado River. In Las Vegas, about 88 percent of our production comes from the Colorado and the remainder is sustainable, local ground water. In the Phoenix metro area, more than 44,000 urban properties get over 250,000 acre feet of Salt River Project water to irrigate landscapes (source Dwight Bond,SRP,2006). That's more supplemental water than Southern Nevada's total Colorado River consumption.
- Not all water diverted depletes the Colorado River system Water rights on the Colorado are appropriated based on consumptive use. For each 100 gallons of Colorado River water diverted by SNWA, only 60 are used consumptively. The remaining 40 are returned to the river system. As such, the consumptive footprint of a Southern Nevada home is closer to 75 gallons per day, and that includes the portion derived from our groundwater. If you account for the groundwater, residential consumptive use is closer to 66 gallons per resident per day.
- Homes in different cities cannot be compared equitably because of their climate. The expectation that a home in Las Vegas would use the same amount of water as a home in Salt Lake, Denver or even Tucson is unrealistic because of the outdoor demands. If you created two identical homes wit desert landscapes in Tucson and Las Vegas, the Vegas home would ve expected to use more water vecause of our high evapotranspiration and low rainfall. Tucson gets almost a foot of rain, with the bulk of it during the summer monsoon. By contrast, Sourthern Nevada gets about 4.3 inches and our "rainy" season is in the winter, when plant demand is low.
- Hundreds of Crashes as Vegas Gets Inch of Rain
- LAS VEGAS (AP) - Authorities in Las Vegas say they've responded to hundreds of car accidents while a storm system drops an inch of rain over desert dwellers.
- Trooper Loy Hixson says the Nevada Highway Patrol responded to 141 crashes between 7 a.m. Thursday and 7 a.m. Friday, including 37 with minor injuries. That's four to five times what the agency sees on a normal day.
- Officer Laura Meltzer says Las Vegas police fielded 112 car crash calls in a rainy five-hour period between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Thursday.
- Work on Lake Mead water intake leaves valley down to its final straw
- In the 1990s, before there was an Intake No. 2, an electrical problem shut down the one and only intake and pumping station, cutting off all access to lake water for about three days.
- If that should happen again in the next few months, water authority spokesman J.C. Davis said residents can expect to see emergency restrictions on water use.
- There is enough water stored in the valley at any one time to keep taps flowing for several days, and additional water can be pumped from the local groundwater table. But some areas would suffer more than others.
- In Boulder City where Davis lives, for example, there really isn’t a backup supply or any significant storage. If the system that pulls water from Lake Mead goes down completely, he said, “We’re basically screwed.”
- RECREATION IN NEVADA
- In Nevada, the Colorado River supports 25,329 jobs and pumps $2 billion into the economy each year from people spending money on river-related recreation and tourism. [Source: LVSUN_Jill Lagan, CEO of the BC chamber of commerce_2013]
Water Symposium in Las Vegas
- Is there any crop that can be commercially manufactured on 4 inches of rain per year. NO, irrigation is a must in Las Vegas.
- Tourists: 3-5% of water use in Las Vegas related to the tourist industry.
- 150,000 hotel rooms --- 40 million visitors per year.
- '300 hotel pools in Vegas with 25 considered "Mega Pools".
- 25% of the nation's GDP is associated with the Colorado River.
- 1930 the 1st tourism spot in Las Vegas-- the DAM. People stood and watched as it was being built.
- Las Vegas was founded on springs and ground water. Las Vegas = the meadows.
- Nevada gets 3% of the Colorado River.
- Around 20% of electric generation is to push water.
