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Avoiding dry reservoirs
Study recommends Colorado River users do more to preserve water supplies
Sunday, July 26, 2009 | 2:06 a.m.
A study released last week by the University of Colorado presented optimism that Colorado River reservoirs will have sufficient water supplies through 2026, but there was also discomforting news. Researchers cautioned that the river’s reservoirs could be depleted by 2057 because of climate change.
They pegged the odds of that happening at more than 25 percent if average river flows drop by 10 percent. They also said there would be a greater than 50 percent chance that Lake Mead, Lake Powell and other reservoirs could run dry by then if flows decline by 20 percent.
As reported Wednesday by Mary Manning on the Las Vegas Sun’s Web site, the study’s authors recommended that water managers rethink water management practices in an effort to avoid dry reservoirs. We couldn’t agree more, given that the river supplies drinking water to roughly 30 million Americans, including Southern Nevada residents.
As University of Colorado graduate student and study co-author Ken Nowak said: “The important thing is not to get lulled into a sense of safety or security with the near-term resiliency of the Colorado River basin water supply. If we do, we’re in for a rude awakening.”
That is why Southern Nevada is smart not to put all its emphasis on a single water source. A proposed pipeline that would bring in water from rural Northern Nevada is one option that makes sense.
Also, The Southern Nevada Water Authority has done a good job of persuading the public to use water more efficiently. Those conservation efforts resulted in a decline in water use of nearly 21 billion gallons between 2002 and 2008 despite rapid population growth in Southern Nevada.
But we’re still fighting an uphill battle because of the extended drought, which has caused a sharp decrease in reservoir water supplies. Reversing that trend will require increased cooperation on water management strategies among the states that share the river.
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So now there is hope that we may not face the eventual consequences of water waste as soon as we thought. Oh, goodie"goodie now the politicians, real estate and construction moguls can continue to plan to fill this valley from mountain to mountain with developments. Yes, we need still more houses, resorts, business parks, shopping centers and other development.
This news fills the need of those who refuse to believe that) 1) we are in a long-term drought; and 2) it is the direct or indirect result of climate change, i.e. global warming. isn't' it likely that all the talk, news and scientific announcements of climatic factors must be a cheap and radical environmentalist, i.e. right wing plot to stop our economy and businesses"that is what the Bush administration tried to dump on the American people.
GW Bush and his anti-science administration tried to squelch, silence and nullify every bit of real scientific research on potential global warming. So many people today have no idea of what is happening in the Polar Regions, the coral reefs and mountain glaciers of the world as indicators of dramatic climatic changes. Cyclic or not, it is happening and we will face the consequences in the future.
In Las Vegas politicians have the people believing that the fountains, ponds, pools and water shows are using recycled waste water. True some may be recycled waste water, but what about the water that evaporates permanently from these water wasters? Who recycles that water.
Outlying resorts like Red Rock and The M must have water piped in from a central water source. There is no separate water line leading to their establishments from the sewage water treatment facilities"they aren't recycling " In 20-25 years Las Vegas will be a dry ghost town.