billybobby777
The REAL BillyBobby
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RE: UNLV's Stock Is Rising (Raiders --> LV in 2020 approved by the NFL)
(03-29-2017 07:51 PM)dbackjon Wrote: (03-29-2017 07:18 PM)billybobby777 Wrote: (03-29-2017 10:23 AM)colohank Wrote: (03-28-2017 09:23 PM)billybobby777 Wrote: (03-28-2017 03:52 PM)colohank Wrote: With Lake Mead at historic lows and the Colorado River seriously over-subscribed, Las Vegas is a couple of heartbeats away from running out of water. No water, no glitz. No glitz, no town. The long term outlook for that contrived, over-developed, over-populated "oasis" is bleak.
I used to hear that about Phoenix as a kid in the 80's. They've tripled in size since then. I remember when I was in Greenville people telling me about how all these western cities were going to be gone because there was no water. I'd ask them about their experience out West to always get the reply "I've never been there" I won't speak for Vegas but most Western towns get tons of mountain snow in the winter which melts in the spring, flows down into the city and sustains them. (Denver, Albuquerque, Salt Lake, Tahoe)....Las Vegas has mountains too, maybe not like the Front Range, but doesn't that process happen there too? Maybe I'm wrong; I realize Vegas is a hellava lot hotter than Denver and Albuquerque, Salt Lake etc.
I live in western Colorado, about a quarter-mile from the Colorado River. My subdivision fronts on it, and I can see it from my front yard. By eastern standards, it's a stream.
Historically, it experienced heroic spring floods, but much of the year, its flow was little more than a trickle.
Lake Mead, and later, Lake Powell, were created to capture those immense spring flows, but losses to evaporation (they have large surface areas) and seepage into porous sandstones render those impoundments counter-productive. That's why both reservoirs sport large bathtub rings. Water levels are falling faster than they can be replenished, even in years with above-average snows in source areas, and even in years when spring warmups are rapid and produce more meltwater than can be used by upstream agriculture and communities. In years when the melt is more gradual, much of the Colorado River's flow never makes it as far downstream as Lakes Powell and Mead. The original National Park Service marina developments on those impoundments have been left high and dry.
As you noted in your post, the population in Phoenix has tripled since you lived there as a kid in the 1980s. The population of Clark County, NV is almost two million. Meanwhile, no legal sleight-of-hand or political smoke-and-mirrors are capable of producing more water than Mother Nature offers. Demand already far exceeds supply, and it's only going to get worse.
By oversubscribed, I mean that existing adjudicated agricultural and municipal rights in the US and Mexico exceed the amount of water that's actually available. As Phoenix and Las Vegas grow (and yes, I'm familiar with both cities), so grows additional demand. Agricultural interests in California claim a huge share, too. By treaty, Mexico is entitled to some of the Colorado River flow, and some of the water now stored in Lake Mead actually belongs to Mexico.
I'll stand by my earlier prediction. Las Vegas is screwed, maybe not immediately, but eventually. The situation there simply isn't sustainable. Those who gamble big on Las Vegas's long-term viability lose.
In how many years? The attitude out there isn't worrying about water at all. They seem to think they'll grow and grow and grow....I like your expertise on this subject. I know in Mountain western cities like Denver and Albuquerque that there's these huge water basins under the cities with 100 year water supplies...And they are 6,000, 7,000 feet high with Mountain snows. Maybe those are bad examples because those aren't really desert cities. Maybe Phoenix would be a better comparison. Is Phoenix facing the same issue?
Phoenix and Vegas are two different animals, water wise.
Phoenix gets a major portion of it's water from the Salt-Verde River system, which drains the mountains of Eastern/Central Arizona and flows through Phoenix (well, in wet years, most years it is diverted completely). Vegas has no such river, as it doesn't hold much water rights to the Colorado (Arizona owns 100% of the Salt/Verde flow and the vast majority of the Gila River water).
Phoenix actually uses the same amount of water today as it did in the 50's - due to conversion of irrigated farm fields to housing, etc, which use far less water. Vegas has no such water to convert to non-farm uses.
Phoenix has an excess of water right now - a majority of the water Phoenix gets from the Colorado River is banked - injected into the aquifers to be used at a later time.
Thanks and "aquifer" is the word I was looking for. I've read up about western cities and water and they all seem to have plans in place or are in much wetter climates than Las Vegas...Vegas must be in denial.
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