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Feature
Is Vegas Burning?
Can Sin City survive without the gift of free water?
With the famous slogan, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority promises sin—without the wages of sin. Not to be outdone, the local water authority reaches out to newcomers with the offer of cheap and abundant water in the middle of a scorching desert.
Or, rather, it did until recently. The city fathers of Las Vegas are just beginning to appreciate the truth of one of Ben Franklin’s maxims—“When the well’s dry, we know the worth of water.”
Cheap and abundant water was the magic fuel that powered the city’s growth for more than half a century. It fed lawns, filled pools, jetted out of fountains, and led to the creation of scores of golf courses (some 60 in all) that dotted around a metropolitan area of close to 2 million people.
But now the magic’s gone. There is no free water for future growth.
Water in Las Vegas is still cheap, by the standards of most cities. But it is no longer abundant. At the current price, which is based on historic cost and does not reflect the hard fact of present and impending scarcity, there is just enough water to accommodate the needs of existing residents. That is to say, water is subject to strict rationing. The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) and its sister organization—the Las Vegas Valley Water District (LVVWD)—have adopted a wide range of restrictions to micromanage and limit water usage, including one that bans restaurants from serving unsolicited tap water and another that prohibits the planting of grass at commercial properties and new residential front yards. LVVWD maintains its own “water police” who patrol the city looking for sprinklers running at prohibited times and other cases of wasteful or illegal water use.
If water is to become abundant again—and that is the great overriding objective of the water authority, which is engaged in a controversial campaign to tap into the small sea of Ice Age water that lies beneath the Great Basin in northern Nevada and western Utah—it will have to be brought in from the outside and it won’t be cheap. Still worse, according to many critics, SNWA’s multi-billion dollar plan to pump ground water from the Great Basin and send it via a 285-mile pipeline to Las Vegas would result in an environmental catastrophe.
How did Las Vegas go from abundance to scarcity? What is the best solution in balancing the interests of the environment against the city’s desire for continuing economic growth and prosperity?
In addressing such questions, one must begin by acknowledging that this is a story wound up in the history and continuing evolution of the American southwest.
Accidental City
IF THE FEDERAL government did anything of lasting consequence during the Great Depression, it was the construction of the Hoover Dam and a host of ancillary facilities, including the aqueduct downstream from the dam that supplies water to almost all cities in the greater Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Diego areas. Thanks to these Depression-era projects, the Colorado River supplies one out of every 12 Americans with drinking water, and it irrigates fields that produce about 15 percent of the nation’s crops.
Modern-day Las Vegas may be described as an unintended consequence of the building of the great dam. Originally, it was thought that Mormon farmers in the vicinity of today’s city would use a tiny portion of the river’s flow (less than 2 percent) to create a smaller version of California’s Imperial Valley.
That is not what happened. Instead, when the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation began construction of the dam in 1931, the city filled with a rowdy army of construction workers. In her telling of the story in a five-part series called “Quenching Las Vegas’ Thirst,” Emily Green of the Las Vegas Sun wrote:
[The workers’] needs could be largely summed up in a telephone book under B: boarding houses, brothels and bars. Moreover, that same year, Nevada legalized gambling. Las Vegas added a C to its key services: casinos.
In short, the mob didn’t invent Las Vegas. The Bureau of Reclamation did.
No one expected the small number of people living in and around Las Vegas at the time to pick up any portion of the capital cost of building the dam, 34 miles to the south, which was completed in 1936. Like other big Depression-era projects, it was launched and paid for by the federal government.
About the Author
Andrew B. Wilson, a frequent contributor to The American Spectator, writes from St. Louis.
Mender| 11.30.11 @ 6:29AM
Good article. There's something scary about how fast the west has mined fossil water deposits: lakes and water deposits that took thousands or millions of years to form poured away in a human lifetime. Probably the only good long-term option is going to be building big wind farms and solar plants in the desert and then using them to desalinate water from the Pacific.
DTOM| 11.30.11 @ 9:01AM
Wind farms and solar cells? That makes as much sense as importing foreign species into an eco-system to eradicate a nuisance species. Which invariably results in the imported species turning into a far greater nuisance.
Want to address the problem efficiently? Let a free market set the price. Everything else is just centralized planning hubris ala the Soviet Union.
Wanna see some real water usage debacles? Just look at what those Soviet geniuses did to the Aral Sea. Search it. You'll see.
cowgirl| 11.30.11 @ 9:32AM
I live approximately 40 miles from the Solyandra plant in Fremont California. When driving passed the plant that sits on Highway 888 the one thing that stands out like a sore thumb is that Solyandra used PG&E power to MAKE Solar Panels.
Solar energy can only be viable when you use solar energy to make the components that make solar energy.
Solar energy like Global Warming is a joke.
The Bruce| 11.30.11 @ 10:52AM
We have the same thing out here in Tucson. There's a solar panel company (don't remember the name) just off of I-10 alongside the U of A Tech Park.
There's not a single panel on their roof (or anywhere on the property) powering the place. The plant is fed by Tucson Electric Power. That tells you everything you need to know about solar power.
If it's not economically viable for a company to use their own product (at less than wholesale prices), then they must be laughing their asses off at people (residents) paying retail, to the tune of $20K, to have panels installed on their roof so they can brag about being "green."
beebop2| 11.30.11 @ 6:41AM
Probably the only good long-term option is going to be building big wind farms and solar plants in the desert and then using them to desalinate water from the Pacific.
Seriously? Why not just shut Vegas down as opposed to filling its vast natural beauty with man made piles of ugly and useless debris?
I for one have long held the belief that Vegas (and Palm Springs) are a night mare. They were never meant to be golfing destinations and as such, those activities need to be abandoned. Creating these oases in the desert is (to me) akin to trying to force high speed rail on the US -- it simply makes no sense.
But, having said that, if the citizens want to pay for it, they should be entitled to do so.
Shamus| 11.30.11 @ 7:25AM
This is what happens when Democrats blow huge amounts on "stimulus" programs.
Moe Blotz| 11.30.11 @ 8:21AM
Right, and then keep prices of utilities artificially low. Crony Capitalism at work. I suggest a young Harry Reid saw a benevolent government at work and decided it was good.
DTOM| 11.30.11 @ 9:08AM
Remember the water crisis in New York City in I believe the late '80's. They were running out of potable water...until they required water meters for all users. Voila no more shortage. Subsidies are artificial decreases in price which means an artificial increase in demand. Remeber those pesky laws of supply and demand? They work, whether you know about them or not.
Melvin| 11.30.11 @ 8:09AM
I have personally lived in high desert for five years. And found it to be the most beautiful and peaceful place that I have ever lived.
Maybe it was the bareness or man's ability to conquer or I should say co-exist with a place that makes lesser beings shrivel up and die.
It's odd driving to Vegas and just as we topped the hill, Vegas was laid out across the desert akin to a huge mirage.
It was close to dusk, and Vegas was emerging as one huge ball of artificial light. Beautiful in one sense and garish in the next.
Does Las Vegas need to be shut down. No more so than New York City, Hoboken, or Los Angeles.
In the desert especially with military training we were taught to respect water. Water was not a finite resource, it was life.
I was amazed how fast water evaporated in the Desert, we would use desert water bags to cool the water inside through a evaporation process that made the water as cool as water coming out of an electric water cooler.
At night when we completed our training, we would bed down at night and look up at the heavens and the cosmos was so huge it appeared so close that a person could raise their hand and grab and handful of stars.
Do we need rampant development in the desert? I would add that the same would apply to the cities that I mentioned previously.
But then a large part of me also says, if a person is a private property owner then they can do as they legally wish with their land.
Should a balance be struck? Yes. We can have development, but not on an industrial scale. Achieving that balance will cause the cost of development to go up, but dividends will be achieved in the long run, maybe not monetarily for the developer, but for the inhabitants of the development and the land that it is built on.
As a side note there is something that appears to be in the works, but it may stem from my own paranoia of government, but I am starting to observe a trend where municipalities are all now issuing dire warnings about the scarcity of water and the only way to fix the problem is to raise water rates.
My water and sewer bill is almost as equal as my electric bill, (two aging cheapskates) and in the not so distant future will surpass it.
I have this nagging opinion that municipalities may be using rising water rates as an indirect mechanism for additional governmental funding.
A tax or a fee without calling it a tax or a fee.
I dunno maybe my own loathing of government is fueling my suspicions, but then again I wouldn't put it past government to do so.
Timothy L. Pennell| 11.30.11 @ 8:13AM
And you thought that I needed "Paragraphs"?
Melvin| 11.30.11 @ 8:22AM
Whaaaaaat, Timothy I have never accused you of being wordy. Maybe, and it is a very small maybe that my musings today are just a tad rambling.
Timothy L. Pennell| 11.30.11 @ 2:00PM
I was just playing with ya.
That's what I USED TO GET all the time.
Merry Christmas Melvin.
DTOM| 11.30.11 @ 9:10AM
No, that was me, I think. But then again, I might not have been the only one.
I did get new glasses, as you suggested. I'm still waiting to see if you get more paragraphs....
HeeHaw.
Timothy L. Pennell| 11.30.11 @ 1:58PM
You crack me up.
Drunken Sailor| 11.30.11 @ 11:38AM
"we would use desert water bags to cool the water inside through a evaporation process that made the water as cool as water coming out of an electric water cooler."
Ahh yes, the good old "Lister Bag". I tested many of them for F.A.C. (Free available chlorine). Don't think they even use them anymore.
Jacob R| 11.30.11 @ 8:19AM
I love how the city manager sees opthings only in dollars. They should have given all the water to Las Vegas right? Then Americans could eat casino chips instead of the fruits and vegetables from the Imperial Valley! (I mean are we being silly? Don't we realize that hot casino action is more important to our national character than a sustainable source of food and water?!?)
oldfart| 11.30.11 @ 9:11AM
Sounds like a repeat of the story of greedy people killing the goose the lays golden eggs to get the eggs on the inside.
WRTolkas| 11.30.11 @ 9:30AM
Let the water problem be Nevada's problem. Once the Governor of New Mexico, while visiting Michigan during our primary, made a comment of reallocating the water usage in the United States. Then Governor Granholm, the only stand she took I agreed with, took Governor Richardson to task and stated that NO WATER WILL BE DIVERTED FROM THE GREAT LAKES - PERIOD. That ended Governor Richardson's presidential aspirations and started the ball rolling to sign laws among the states bordering the Great Lakes and Canada to protect the Great Lakes from Western thirst. I hope these laws protect us from Dirty Harry.
DTOM| 11.30.11 @ 10:47AM
WRT;
The usage of the Great Lakes' water is the subject of the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty between the US and Canada. In 1986 the Water Resources Development Act gave veto power to the governors of each of the eight Great Lakes states to block any export or diversion of Great Lakes water outside the basin. It also made it illegal for the federal government to study any diversion of Great Lakes waters.
Einsteinian Bill Richardson looked pretty stupid on that one. But Jenny Granholm's rebuff was something any cranky 7 year old could have done- and if Jennifer had not, there were 7 other governors and two or three Canadian provincial ministers who could single-handedly end that foolishness.
So Billy and Jenny didn't start any balls rolling! More like they managed to get out of the way of properly established law and treaties, Jenny doing so without any visible bruises. Billy not so much.
Those who don't know history...
WRTolkas| 11.30.11 @ 10:23PM
Dear DTOM,
Thank you for the modern history lessen. By the way, I teach French Colonial History; but unfortunately, my knowledge of the last fifty years is sorely lacking. I must catchup to the 20th Century.
Be Safe.
Dick Nome| 11.30.11 @ 11:43AM
There is a reason it's called a desert. There is no or very little water there.
Stan Redmond| 11.30.11 @ 1:07PM
Let Vegas go thirsty. So they don't have lush lawns and landscapes. People will adapt. And I have a feeling the power, money, and influence of the casino lobby will manage to keep the water flowing.
I can't help but wonder how much of this is man caused though. How much of the water behind Hoover dam let out to "protect" some allegedly endangered frog? The feds have turned the San Joaquin Valley of California in to a wasteland for the sake of a useless smelt.
Timothy L. Pennell| 11.30.11 @ 2:02PM
LET IT BURN!
These people saw fit to return Harry Reid ti the Senate, and now they must be PUNISHED.
Hey Vegas: DROP DEAD!
Arizonan| 11.30.11 @ 2:15PM
It's not just the water as Vegas takes the power from Hoover dam as well. Nonetheless, the Colorado river never reaches the sea. California drains it dry for LA.
russel| 11.30.11 @ 5:07PM
Let it blow away in the desert breeze . Ie , take the SEIU out to the desert and shoot it in the head . All of Nevada voted against the bottom-feeding tapeworm Reid - except - the casino county that put him over . Vile little self- interester as bad as Nutzi .
TrueBlue| 11.30.11 @ 7:05PM
One of the reasons popular vote is a bad idea... it lets vast single population centers determine the fate of their states irregardless of how the rest of the population feels or how things work outside of the cities.
You end up with cities like Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia determining what laws get passed, who the state senators and the governor are, simply by outnumbering the eastern half of the state that is primarily used for farms and livestock. Which part of the state do you think those elected officials pay the most concern towards even though only one part actually provides food?
David W| 11.30.11 @ 6:59PM
After watching my grass burn up this past summer, and having to cut down my tree in front (the biggest tree on the block) because the drought here in Texas just about did it in, I do not have much sympathy for Vegas.
TrueBlue| 11.30.11 @ 7:14PM
I have sympathy for farmers and ranchers that produce food required for all of us to survive, certainly not for a city whose entire industry is centered around nearly every vice known to man.
I don't have an issue with Las Vegas (it's a fun city), other than anyone there thinking they have more rights to water than the people who produce the things required for us to stay alive just because there are more of them. They chose to build up there and waste water like it was endless, now they are paying the price for it. Id say they need take responsibility for their actions, but it's hard enough to convince most adults to do that these days, let alone politicians.
Craig | 12.1.11 @ 6:56AM
Agree!
http://casinobonusoverzicht.nl
Craig | 12.1.11 @ 6:57AM
sorry didn't mean to leave my url there But can't edit
bluecollarbytes| 11.30.11 @ 8:23PM
Whatever they pump out of New Orleans- just send it to Nevada, somehow.
---
I wonder how many who 'bought homes' and failed to make any payments, received $7,500 for ripping out the lawns?
JC| 11.30.11 @ 8:41PM
Don't exclude the culpability of the "water czars" whose decision to release "artificial floods" from Hoover Dam during record snow melts in order to procreate more snail darters and the like. There have been opportunities to raise the level of Lake Mead that were denied by the ecofreaks. Just ask Florida what happenned there a few years ago.
POST American| 11.30.11 @ 9:48PM
-------------------SOFT-programming------------------
--------for Globalist takeover of resources for------
----------------------- EUGENICS------------------------
--------------------------ALERT!--------------------------
--the 'GIFT' of water? ---HUH?
"Understand, the big moves now by the
Globalists are the FINAL takeovers of all
resources, everywhere, around the world.
That includes ALLLL the roads and utilities
your taxes paid for, your father built.
Of course, full-spectrum control and
EUGENICS is the real bottom line."
-----------------THE BOTTOM LINE-------------------
Quartermaster| 12.2.11 @ 7:31PM
Vegas will die as there simply isn't the carrying capacity in the desert for that perversion. While it was small, it could be tolerated, but nature has a way of slapping people down that try to ignore it.