In contrast to cities like Phoenix and Los Angeles which get water from a number of sources Las Vegas gets 90% of its water from the Colorado River. And while the city and many surrounding areas have been in denial for a long time seems “The City That Never Sleeps” is heeding the writing on the wall. In 2021 a law was passed there prohibiting commercial and multifamily properties from watering “non-functional turf,” as opposed to useful turf like soccer fields.
adventure.com
Other restrictions have been put in place like limiting pool size, forbidding swamp coolers (systems that pass air over evaporated water, prohibiting homes from having decorative fountains, issuing finds when water leaks on to sidewalks. The city has also incentivized the removal of roughly 200 million square feet of turf.
While in 2002 the Colorado River was at a historic low, in 2022 both Lake Powell and Lake Meade, the two largest reservoirs in the United States, both fed by the Colorado River were at record lows. And, the federal government warned Arizona, Nevada and California usage cutbacks were needed, and declared its authority to do so. With Las Vegas’ moves toward demonstratable conservation the Phoenix area and other cities are being pressured to follow Las Vegas’ lead. This includes, for example guest now swimming in Las Vegas hotel pools filled with treated gray water— water from non-sewage sources like showers and washing machines, and Angel Park public golf course which has been open for 30 years now using non-potable reclaimed wastewater.
Peter McBride
And in 2021 the Las Vegas Valley Water District voted to prevent any new golf courses from using water from the Colorado River. In 2022 the Southern Nevada Water Authority passed a measure limiting residential swimming pools to 600 square feet, which according to adventure.com is expected to save 32 million gallons of water over the next 10 years.
According to John Entsminger General Manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, “Everything we use indoors in Las Vegas is recycled. If it hits a drain we clean. We put it back in Lake Meade.” Surprisingly the Vegas “Strip” only uses about 8% of the area’s water supply. This because according to Heather Hansman of adventure.com is because the big casino properties have been proactive in conservation. For example, the famous Bellagio fountains work on a closed loop filter and reuse system so that none of that water hits a sewer.
Yes, there are still some bad eggs says Heather Hansman. She gives the example of high-end planned community with a 320 acre human-made lake. Even so according to Brian Richter chief scientist of the Global Water Program of Nature Conservancy, “Las Vegas has become a conservation rock star in recent decades.”