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Feature
Is Vegas Burning?
Can Sin City survive without the gift of free water?
(Page 2 of 3)
Three-quarters of a century later, a super-sized Las Vegas relies on Lake Mead, behind the dam, for close to 90 percent of its water—and it still gets that water for next to nothing. Cost-based pricing explains the low water rates charged to residents of the city. Las Vegas may sit in the middle of a desert, but both its operating and its capital costs are low. Unlike San Diego and other cities, it has not borne the expense of building desalination plants and other expensive facilities. And unlike San Francisco, which gets most of its water from a reservoir in distant mountains, it draws its water from a nearby source. The lower cost of delivery is chiefly responsible for the fact that water service is only about half as expensive in Las Vegas (at $33 per month for a family of four) as it is in San Francisco (at $58 a month).
In addition to cheap water, Las Vegas derives another major benefit from the dam. It gets cut-rate electricity from the federal government—supplied at less than half the wholesale price. That, in turn, greatly reduces the cost of recycling and transporting water. More importantly, in the larger scheme of things, cheap electricity allows Las Vegas to outshine Paris as a city of lights. Seen from outer space—with outdoor lighting displays featuring replicas of the Eiffel Tower, London Bridge, and other monuments from around the globe—Las Vegas is the brightest city on the planet.
All of which is to say that Las Vegas led a charmed life in rising from a small railroad town into a sprawling metropolis.
Coping with Too Much Water—and Too Little
FOR MORE THAN two decades, it did not even need water from Lake Mead, as it was able to get by on its own plentiful supply of ground water, with springs that flowed to the surface—some with the force of geysers. By the late 1950s, however, this source had been pumped almost dry—causing the springs to stop flowing and ground to cave in beneath Nellis Air Force Base. The water wells were capped and the casinos and other users hooked up to newly formed system taking water from Lake Mead in 1962.
Over the next three decades, Las Vegas enjoyed prodigious growth without coming anywhere close to exhausting its annual allotment of water from Lake Mead. From 139,000 people in 1960, Las Vegas grew to 305,000 in 1970, 528,000 in 1980, and 853,000 in 1990—and still it had water to spare—water to waste—from an allotment that could easily accommodate a city of 1.5 million people accustomed to using all the water they wanted without having to worry about the cost.
During this halcyon time, no one—not even the casinos—wasted more water than the local water companies themselves. Seven companies shared in the annual allotment from the lake under a formula that encouraged each company to make full use of its share—sometimes dumping any surplus water into storm sewers.
However, as Las Vegas approached the 1 million mark in population, the LVVWD began to worry about future water shortages. In October 1989, it filed applications in Carson City for unclaimed groundwater in northeastern Nevada, with an estimated pull of as much as 800,000 acre-feet of water, or just about double the allocation from Lake Mead.
There was fierce opposition from ranchers, farmers, environmental groups, and others in Nevada and Utah. The controversy continues to this day, with tempers rising on both sides. Opponents say that pumping the aquifer beneath the Great Basin would turn a sparse but beautiful desert landscape into a giant dust bowl. They say it would kill plants and wildlife and recreate the disaster of California’s Owens Valley—the subject of Chinatown, the movie starring Jack Nicholson.
As the city’s longtime water czar—head of both SNWA and LVVWD—Pat Mulroy dismisses these fears as unfounded, even though one of the fiercest critics includes a water expert who formerly served as a top consultant to the water authority in studying the impact of pumping the aquifer.
While insisting that the water authority has no intention of “mining” the aquifer—or of reducing the net amount of water in storage through withdrawals exceeding the naturally occurring deposits from snowmelt and other forces—Mulroy counters with the argument that her plan is a do-or-die proposition for Nevada and its largest city: “There is no option. It’s going to be built. For this state to survive, it has to be built.”
As it happens, Mulroy and the water authority put the plan on hold for most of the 1990s. But that was during a period of years in which the closely watched water level at Lake Mead was rising—reaching an all-time high in 1998. But that year also marked the beginning of a 12-year drought in the Southwest, which caused the lake to fall below 50 percent of capacity and set alarm bells ringing inside the water authority. In 2008 it began to build a “third straw” (in reality, a massive underground tunnel) to assure its ability to suck water from the lake even as the water level continued to drop.
No one would accuse Mulroy of being less than aggressive in seeking to ration water through a variety of restrictions and special incentives. In 2009, the water police investigated more than 6,000 cases of wasteful water use and issued nearly $100,000 in fines. Employing the carrot as well as the stick, the water authority pays homeowners up to $7,500 to rip out green lawns. Appearing before the U.S. Congress in 2004, Mulroy took credit for eliminating more than 33 million square feet of ornamental turf through SNWA’s “cash for grass” program—enough to bring about a temporary reduction in total water consumption in Las Vegas even as the city continued to experience rapid growth. But as she was at pains to explain to the lawmakers in Washington, this was no more than stopgap. She appeared before Congress to press the case for the pipeline.
Now, SNWA and its supporters are demanding immediate action on the proposed pipeline, while opposition groups have become increasingly energized as well. To go ahead with its plan, the water authority has two big hurdles to clear in coming months. It must obtain a right-of-way from the Bureau of Land Management to build the pipeline. It must also secure water rights from the Nevada State Engineer—which involves the technically complex issue of whether or not the water authority would be “mining” the aquifer (mining groundwater is illegal in Nevada).
If the project does proceed, it will probably mean the end of cheap water in Las Vegas. This time the city—or the water authority—will have to reach into its own pocket. SNWA admits that a near-doubling in water rates may be needed to finance the $7.4 billion project.
About the Author
Andrew B. Wilson, a frequent contributor to The American Spectator, writes from St. Louis.
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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.