Water users look at ways to conserve

Friday, June 13, 2003 | 11:07 a.m.

Water users large and small are preparing for rate increases expected later this year after the Las Vegas Valley Water District announced plans to hike monthly bills as part of a drought watch.

Large water consumers such as restaurants and golf courses could be seriously affected if a 39 percent rate increase is put into effect.

However, some golf course managers and homeowners are already reducing how much water they use, in many cases by removing lawns in favor of desert landscaping.

Everyone will have to curb how much water they consume if Las Vegas is to survive the four-year-old drought and preserve the current quality of life, said Dale Devitt, director of urban water conservation at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

"There's a lot of water to be saved," Devitt said Thursday.

The average Las Vegas resident uses 308 gallons of water per day, Devitt said.

In comparison, El Paso residents use 150 gallons per person per day, he said.

"People here still haven't grasped that concept that they live in a desert," Devitt said.

The water district can improve conservation through education and higher prices for water, Devitt said.

"Pricing is the most powerful tool the water district has," he said.

However, if elected officials use water conservation to spur growth, then it could damage the quality of life the Las Vegas Valley enjoys today, Devitt said.

Mary Silvestri, a 28-year Las Vegas resident, said she got rid of her lawn to save water.

"I've got a patch of grass in the back," Silvestri said. "The rest is stone. I'll let the grass die if it comes to that."

Golf course owners are faced with that same predicament, Devitt said. Some measures under review by the water district include limiting golf courses to seven acre-feet of water a year. An acre-foot of water is enough to serve a family of four for a year.

At Spanish Trail Country Club, where all the water comes from the water district pipeline, measures are already under way to trim 20 percent of the golf course turf, greens superintendent Jeff Reid said.

"A lot of golf courses are already doing it," Reid said. "We've mapped out some areas we're looking at for reducing a significant amount of turf."

Beginning July 1, the course will begin using recycled water, Reid said.

"The amount of recycled water will vary throughout the year," he said.

In landscaped areas drip irrigation could be installed, Reid said, but that won't work for turf.

"We can all reduce water usage, especially in our own homes," Reid said.

In contrast, Las Vegas Country Club's course is watered from wells, general manager Dale Telford said. The water district supplies drinking and cooking water at the club.

"It doesn't have the impact on us as it does at other courses," he said.

Greg Bowen, night manager at a Denny's restaurant and a 20-year veteran of food services, said higher water bills could hurt local eateries more than individual homes.

"That'll hurt restaurants a lot," Bowen said.

Bowen suggested that the water district consider imposing a smaller increase for restaurants, maybe 10 percent, and charge homeowners the higher rate.

Brian Rosenfeld, who lives in a Summerlin townhouse, said he understands what a drought can do.

"It's scary," Rosenfeld said. "I was out at Lake Mead over the weekend and saw how much the lake had dropped."

Living next to a reservoir in New Jersey made him aware of the state of water supplies.

"I'm sorry to hear the rates are going up, but it doesn't surprise me at all," Rosenfeld said.