The largest reservoir
in the western states,
Lake Mead,
near Las Vegas,
is rising again,
after a decade
of decline.
Fed by the
Colorado River,
trapped by the
Hoover Dam.
Supplies water
to more than
40 million people
in seven states.
A drought
between
2000 and 2015
threatened the
$1.4 trillion
economy
depending on
the river.
Expanded
conservation,
combined with
snowier winters
in the Colorado’s
headwaters, had
reversed the decline.
Lake Mead
has risen
25 feet,
to 1,096 feet,
since 2016,
leaving it
44% full
and at its
highest level
in six years.
In my one visit
to Las Vegas,
in 2001,
I was puzzled
by seeing so many
green plants living
in a very dry area.
Lawns and
golf courses
carpet the
Las Vegas Valley,
averaging only
four inches
of rain annually.
It seemed like
a waste of
a lot of water,
and it was.
NEVADA
Total
Colorado River
water consumption
declined by 25%
over the past
two decades,
even as the
population
it serves
has grown
by about 50%.
Nevada’s
consumption
of Colorado
River water
peaked at
100 billion gallons
in 2002 and
was down to
76 billion in 2018.
-- Most of Nevada’s water
is now recycled, including
from sinks and showers,
and returned to Lake Mead.
-- Building codes
were amended
to prohibit new turf
in the front yards
of new homes
-- Rebates were paid
to yank out nearly
200 million square feet
of grass–enough to
cover 3,350 football fields.
-- Fines for water overuse
The Southern Nevada
Water Authority
has stockpiled
enough water
to account for
about seven feet
of the reservoir
( more than two years
of its allotted supply of
300,000 acre-feet a year ).
CALIFORNIA
In 2015,
the Metropolitan
Water District of
Southern California
spent $350 million
in rebates for
conversion of
water-intensive
turf grass to
drought-tolerant
lawns -- seven times
the original budget.
The Irvine Ranch
Water District
in Orange
County, CA,
for one example,
cut its per capita
drinking-water use
by nearly one-fifth.
They used
conservation
programs, such
as higher rates,
based on
increasing use.