i'm posting this story because of the posters in this forum interest in vegas.
i think it is important that homes have xeriscape landscaping in the front & back yards, instead of grass & for the builders to stop building golf courses, there are more than enough already.
By John Ritter, USA TODAY
LAS VEGAS ? When one of the worst droughts on record hit America's fastest-growing urban area, something had to give.
"The broader question isn't whether limiting growth is the appropriate measure, but whether it's actually possible," says Professer Miller
Officials pleaded for even more water conservation than had been wrung out of this desert sprawl already. They ordered fancy casino fountains turned off. They more than doubled financial incentives for homeowners to rip out irrigated lawns and urged a crackdown on water wasters. They warned of higher rates.
But nothing touched a nerve like the call to scale back what has been southern Nevada's economic underpinning for three decades ? unbridled growth.
WATER OFTEN CHEAPER IN DRY WESTERN CITIES
Water for residential use is less expensive in some of the more arid Western cities than in other selected cities. {+1}
Monthly cost per 7,480 gallons{+2}:
? Chicago $8.67
? Phoenix $9.48
? Salt Lake City $11.78
? El Paso $12.32
? Las Vegas $12.42
? Dallas $12.89
? Denver $13.52
? San Antonio $14.34
? Tucson $15.54
? Philadelphia $16.18
? Albuquerque $16.70
? San Francisco $17.40
? Washington $17.86
? Los Angeles $21.20
? San Diego $23.41
Average $15.76
1 Based on survey of 36 large cities;
2 Common household consumption per month
Source: Raftelis Financial Consulting, Charlotte, N.C.
"If they don't take steps immediately to curb rampant growth, they're jeopardizing the future of the entire community," says Larry Paulson, scientific adviser to the non-profit Nevada Seniors Coalition. "One of these days, we have to come to terms with the fact that we live in a desert, that we can't continue to have unlimited growth on a limited water supply."
A drought scientists rank among the nastiest since the Middle Ages stokes debate over a familiar Western topic: how an arid region can sustain bulging populations on tight water resources. Researchers studying ancient tree rings believe that long droughts are more typical of the West than the last century's relatively wet periods. But there's no consensus on when ? or even if ? growth should be curtailed to keep urban spigots running.
A balancing act
Some experts say water will be the arbiter of Western growth sooner or later. "Unlimited growth is not sustainable, period, unless there's enormous balancing of new development with water use and recycling," says Charles Goldman, a professor at the University of California-Davis. "This will hit the fan in 10 years, at the latest."
Others say agriculture, which gobbles up nearly 90% of the West's water, will be forced to sell some of its share to accommodate urban growth and the cost of water will rise dramatically, prodding city dwellers to conserve.
"The broader question isn't whether limiting growth is the appropriate measure, but whether it's actually possible," says Char Miller, a history professor at Trinity University in San Antonio. "They don't have the political will in Las Vegas to do it."
To slow forces that propelled Las Vegas from a modest gambling getaway of 127,000 in 1960 to a booming metro area of 1.4 million today would be biting the hand that feeds prosperity, many fear.
"You don't use a growth moratorium to manage through a drought," says Pat Mulroy, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, wholesaler to jurisdictions serving 1.6 million people. "Show me a community that's ever done that." Water officials say conservation alone can save enough water for Las Vegas to grow indefinitely at its present rate: 20,000 housing starts a year.
The drought that has parched much of the West is severest along the Colorado River, water supply for 25 million in seven states. Four years of below-average snowfall in the Rocky Mountains has strained supplies from southwestern Wyoming to Southern California.
Reservoirs fed by the Colorado have plunged to historic lows. Lake Mead, source of 85% of Las Vegas' water, has dropped 74 feet in the last two years and is at 63% of capacity. Upriver, Lake Powell, down 95 feet, is at 50%. Another anemic snowfall next winter could spark a drought emergency in southern Nevada and tougher measures than the current ban on daytime sprinkling.
Denver, Laramie and Cheyenne, Wyo., Salt Lake City, Santa Fe and El Paso are among cities penalizing heavy outdoor water use. "Throughout the West, cities are coming up with rates for summer and probably next year as well that will definitely charge a lot more," says Jack Hoffbuhr, executive director of the American Water Works Association.
Love affair with grass
The target is outdoor watering because of its huge savings potential. Virtually all indoor water from toilets, faucets and showers is recycled to irrigate golf courses or pump back into Lake Mead. In a desert averaging 4.3 inches of rain a year, grass is unsuitable in malls, front yards and medians and should be replaced with "xeriscape" ? plants needing little moisture, officials say.
But Las Vegas teems with recent arrivals used to grass. Before the drought, with cheap water, few cared that thousands of acres of irrigated turf were laid down each year. Now the push is on to rip it out. The water authority voted in February to raise rebates from 40 cents to $1 for removing a square foot of grass, and the response was immediate: In three months, homeowners and businesses applied for rebates on 10.5 million square feet of turf, compared with 3.5 million in all of last year.
Golf courses, subject to stiff surcharges for water use above a level set by the authority when it declared a "drought watch," rushed to replace turf.
Siena Golf Club superintendent Steve Swanson is removing 14.1 acres of irrigated rough to qualify for the maximum $300,000 rebate. That won't pay his labor costs, but he's looking ahead: If the authority elevates the drought watch to the more serious "drought alert" or even "drought emergency," quotas for courses will be slashed further. "When I see a possible $500,000 surcharge, that motivates me to look at options," Swanson says.
But golf courses use just 5% of Las Vegas' water. Homeowners, consumers of 65%, have little motivation to replace grass when they face no surcharges. Las Vegans pay just $12.42 for 7,480 gallons, a typical monthly household need. Rates in many other Western cities are low compared with cities elsewhere. Huge federal water projects such as Hoover Dam and Lake Mead have stored enough water to sustain growth and hold rates down.
The cost of Las Vegas water hasn't gone up in seven years.
Air Force retiree John Brown, 70, a Georgia native, likes his 1,500 square feet of lush green grass and says the extra $10 to $15 a month he spends to irrigate it in the summer isn't a burden. He's not against xeriscape, but "I don't know anything about it. No one has notified me about it."
Seniors such as Brown have political clout in Las Vegas. State demographer Jeff Hardcastle says 20% of the metro area population is 55 or older, "and they tend to vote more." The seniors coalition's misgivings about growth and the water supply aren't taken lightly, but some question its motive.
"A classic case of NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard)," says Hal Rothman, a history professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. "Water is a cover. The anti-growth message has not changed. What has changed is the reason for it."
No mainstream environmental group that opposes sprawl and lobbies for "smart" growth supports the coalition demand to halt new water hookups.
"Water's not the best lever," says Eric Wesselman, regional water expert for the Sierra Club. "It's not a straight stop-the-water, stop-the-growth correlation. It's more complicated than that."
i think it is important that homes have xeriscape landscaping in the front & back yards, instead of grass & for the builders to stop building golf courses, there are more than enough already.
By John Ritter, USA TODAY
LAS VEGAS ? When one of the worst droughts on record hit America's fastest-growing urban area, something had to give.
"The broader question isn't whether limiting growth is the appropriate measure, but whether it's actually possible," says Professer Miller
Officials pleaded for even more water conservation than had been wrung out of this desert sprawl already. They ordered fancy casino fountains turned off. They more than doubled financial incentives for homeowners to rip out irrigated lawns and urged a crackdown on water wasters. They warned of higher rates.
But nothing touched a nerve like the call to scale back what has been southern Nevada's economic underpinning for three decades ? unbridled growth.
WATER OFTEN CHEAPER IN DRY WESTERN CITIES
Water for residential use is less expensive in some of the more arid Western cities than in other selected cities. {+1}
Monthly cost per 7,480 gallons{+2}:
? Chicago $8.67
? Phoenix $9.48
? Salt Lake City $11.78
? El Paso $12.32
? Las Vegas $12.42
? Dallas $12.89
? Denver $13.52
? San Antonio $14.34
? Tucson $15.54
? Philadelphia $16.18
? Albuquerque $16.70
? San Francisco $17.40
? Washington $17.86
? Los Angeles $21.20
? San Diego $23.41
Average $15.76
1 Based on survey of 36 large cities;
2 Common household consumption per month
Source: Raftelis Financial Consulting, Charlotte, N.C.
"If they don't take steps immediately to curb rampant growth, they're jeopardizing the future of the entire community," says Larry Paulson, scientific adviser to the non-profit Nevada Seniors Coalition. "One of these days, we have to come to terms with the fact that we live in a desert, that we can't continue to have unlimited growth on a limited water supply."
A drought scientists rank among the nastiest since the Middle Ages stokes debate over a familiar Western topic: how an arid region can sustain bulging populations on tight water resources. Researchers studying ancient tree rings believe that long droughts are more typical of the West than the last century's relatively wet periods. But there's no consensus on when ? or even if ? growth should be curtailed to keep urban spigots running.
A balancing act
Some experts say water will be the arbiter of Western growth sooner or later. "Unlimited growth is not sustainable, period, unless there's enormous balancing of new development with water use and recycling," says Charles Goldman, a professor at the University of California-Davis. "This will hit the fan in 10 years, at the latest."
Others say agriculture, which gobbles up nearly 90% of the West's water, will be forced to sell some of its share to accommodate urban growth and the cost of water will rise dramatically, prodding city dwellers to conserve.
"The broader question isn't whether limiting growth is the appropriate measure, but whether it's actually possible," says Char Miller, a history professor at Trinity University in San Antonio. "They don't have the political will in Las Vegas to do it."
To slow forces that propelled Las Vegas from a modest gambling getaway of 127,000 in 1960 to a booming metro area of 1.4 million today would be biting the hand that feeds prosperity, many fear.
"You don't use a growth moratorium to manage through a drought," says Pat Mulroy, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, wholesaler to jurisdictions serving 1.6 million people. "Show me a community that's ever done that." Water officials say conservation alone can save enough water for Las Vegas to grow indefinitely at its present rate: 20,000 housing starts a year.
The drought that has parched much of the West is severest along the Colorado River, water supply for 25 million in seven states. Four years of below-average snowfall in the Rocky Mountains has strained supplies from southwestern Wyoming to Southern California.
Reservoirs fed by the Colorado have plunged to historic lows. Lake Mead, source of 85% of Las Vegas' water, has dropped 74 feet in the last two years and is at 63% of capacity. Upriver, Lake Powell, down 95 feet, is at 50%. Another anemic snowfall next winter could spark a drought emergency in southern Nevada and tougher measures than the current ban on daytime sprinkling.
Denver, Laramie and Cheyenne, Wyo., Salt Lake City, Santa Fe and El Paso are among cities penalizing heavy outdoor water use. "Throughout the West, cities are coming up with rates for summer and probably next year as well that will definitely charge a lot more," says Jack Hoffbuhr, executive director of the American Water Works Association.
Love affair with grass
The target is outdoor watering because of its huge savings potential. Virtually all indoor water from toilets, faucets and showers is recycled to irrigate golf courses or pump back into Lake Mead. In a desert averaging 4.3 inches of rain a year, grass is unsuitable in malls, front yards and medians and should be replaced with "xeriscape" ? plants needing little moisture, officials say.
But Las Vegas teems with recent arrivals used to grass. Before the drought, with cheap water, few cared that thousands of acres of irrigated turf were laid down each year. Now the push is on to rip it out. The water authority voted in February to raise rebates from 40 cents to $1 for removing a square foot of grass, and the response was immediate: In three months, homeowners and businesses applied for rebates on 10.5 million square feet of turf, compared with 3.5 million in all of last year.
Golf courses, subject to stiff surcharges for water use above a level set by the authority when it declared a "drought watch," rushed to replace turf.
Siena Golf Club superintendent Steve Swanson is removing 14.1 acres of irrigated rough to qualify for the maximum $300,000 rebate. That won't pay his labor costs, but he's looking ahead: If the authority elevates the drought watch to the more serious "drought alert" or even "drought emergency," quotas for courses will be slashed further. "When I see a possible $500,000 surcharge, that motivates me to look at options," Swanson says.
But golf courses use just 5% of Las Vegas' water. Homeowners, consumers of 65%, have little motivation to replace grass when they face no surcharges. Las Vegans pay just $12.42 for 7,480 gallons, a typical monthly household need. Rates in many other Western cities are low compared with cities elsewhere. Huge federal water projects such as Hoover Dam and Lake Mead have stored enough water to sustain growth and hold rates down.
The cost of Las Vegas water hasn't gone up in seven years.
Air Force retiree John Brown, 70, a Georgia native, likes his 1,500 square feet of lush green grass and says the extra $10 to $15 a month he spends to irrigate it in the summer isn't a burden. He's not against xeriscape, but "I don't know anything about it. No one has notified me about it."
Seniors such as Brown have political clout in Las Vegas. State demographer Jeff Hardcastle says 20% of the metro area population is 55 or older, "and they tend to vote more." The seniors coalition's misgivings about growth and the water supply aren't taken lightly, but some question its motive.
"A classic case of NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard)," says Hal Rothman, a history professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. "Water is a cover. The anti-growth message has not changed. What has changed is the reason for it."
No mainstream environmental group that opposes sprawl and lobbies for "smart" growth supports the coalition demand to halt new water hookups.
"Water's not the best lever," says Eric Wesselman, regional water expert for the Sierra Club. "It's not a straight stop-the-water, stop-the-growth correlation. It's more complicated than that."
