Sin City's Continuous Flow
Arid Las Vegas is wheeling and dealing to satisfy its outsize cravings for water
He and other critics compare the pipeline project to Los Angeles's notorious 1913 water grab from the Owens Valley, 225 miles to the northeast, which transformed a swath of rich agricultural land into a wasteland. Yet water analysts like Cohen note that today's environmental laws—if properly enforced—will all but prevent a repeat of the story made famous in the movie Chinatown. Meanwhile, new water-saving technology and conservation measures may leave more room for growth than some might expect. Indeed, according to an analysis by the conservation group Western Resource Advocates, Vegas's total water use has remained fairly constant in recent years and has actually fallen on a per capita basis (albeit still far higher than in some other southwestern cities).
To Mulroy, such progress shows that despite her city's Sodom-on-the-Colorado reputation for extravagance, "we can live and grow sustainably," she says of decisions like the one she made three years ago to pull up much of the turf at her nearly 1-acre home—despite her native Nevada husband's objections. "He was just being lazy."
Fly into Vegas's McCarran International Airport, and it's pretty easy to spot those similarly disinclined to change. Grandfathered in from the days when the city first proffered itself as a desert oasis, older neighborhoods like those built near Las Vegas Springs—the city's original water source—stand in verdant defiance of the 100-degree heat, their tree-lined streets and broad lawns sustained by vast arrays of sprinklers.
Uphill climb. From there, a vast patchwork of newer neighborhoods fan out in every direction, each one thumbing its nose at the surrounding desert: from the backyard pools ubiquitous in the cookie-cutter developments south of the airport to the audacious Lake Las Vegas golf course and boating community on the city's eastern outskirts, where the water needed to keep its 320-acre centerpiece full literally flows uphill—pumped from nearby Lake Mead, the city's main water source.
Yet for all the obvious waste, there are also increasing signs of thrift. Take "Inspirada," a new master-planned 1,200-home development that swaps the conventional golf-course community design for an efficient "new urbanist" ethic. Instead of meandering "S"-curved streets designed to maximize views of the fairways, it features a classic square grid system of streets clustered around a public park and community pools. Front lawns and street-facing garages are replaced by front porches and drip-watered flower gardens. "You can't say 'no turf at all,'" developer John Ritter explains of landscaping restrictions that allow for a patch of green in the backyard. "But it's not two rocks and a cactus either."
Ritter claims the design, which incorporates an array of mesquite trees, Texas mountain laurel, and other drought-tolerant flora, makes the community about a third more water-efficient than conventional developments. "Could we do better? Sure," Ritter says of improvements that include sophisticated water-recycling systems and rooftops with photovoltaic panels. "But right now, affordability is a huge issue. And if you're talking about a $40,000 upgrade for solar cells on a $340,000 house, that's a really tough sell for most people."
Conservation. To be sure, many Las Vegans think they do plenty already to conserve, thanks largely to the Las Vegas Wash, an urban river fed primarily by water recycled from every one of the city's sinks, bathtubs, and toilets. In a literal take on the city's claim that "What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas," the Wash's treated water flows back into Lake Mead, where it eventually makes its way back to the city's spigots. "So as long as I don't water my lawn too much, I can take a nice long shower because all the water's recycled," Mulroy boasts of the system she helped put in place.
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