This is a real issue in Southern Nevada. One that politicians almost unilateraly ignore. When I first moved here 4 or so years ago and took my first trip to the Hoover Dam (about as epic as anything I've ever seen), I saw the "high" water line on the rocks at least 30 feet above the current level of the lake. That got me interested in what was going on. Every trip I've had back there - it's just a little lower and a little lower. It's pretty f'n scary.Smoove_B wrote:Why worry about the water levels in Lake Mead?
Decades of population growth have led to increased water demand in the Southwest. Take, for instance, Las Vegas, which gets 90 percent of its water from Lake Mead. Back in the 1940s, fewer than 9,000 people lived there. In 2006, the population was estimated at more than 550,000, and growing. Rapidly.
Multiplied throughout the region, that added demand means the tolerance for expected drought fluctuation becomes more brittle. And if the cycle of drought and rain doesn't behave like it has in the past—a change some scientists say you can see happening now, and others say is likely under climate change scenarios going forward—it puts more people at risk for water shortage.
Talking heads have suggested building a 'desalinization' plant on the Pacific and pumping in water. But mostly, conservation is probably the biggest solution going on now in the area. They have really tight water restrictions and water usage rates (by volume) that go up in price FAST and are very expensive. All we hear out of Carson City is that we should conserve... I'm fine with that. I've always been that way towards water, anyway. I guess the best thing that's happened, especially in Vegas, is the housing crumble and subsequent dramatic drop in construction work. I'm not sure on the population numbers, but with the amount of people not moving to the city or moving away - that's less people hammering on Lake Mead.
