This is the history of Las Vegas and your water districts relationship with the Colorado River
Las Vegas was officially founded in 1905, in the middle of the Mojave Desert. By 1910, there was an estimated population of 800 residents, who lived off water from underground wells and springs. Today, Las Vegas is home to nearly 3 million people and 6,000 remaining wells to provide groundwater to residents. The Springs Preserve was established in 2007 which now marks where the springs used to flow. Now, a majority of Southern Nevada takes water from the Colorado River.
In 1922, Southern Nevada was given water rights to 300,000 acre-feet from the Colorado River, but Las Vegas continued to use groundwater for general use until the 1940s to reduce groundwater extraction. This shift in water usage marked the birth of the Las Vegas Valley Water District in 1947 to use the Colorado River allotment. The Colorado River allotment supplies 4.4 million acre-feet to California, 2.8 million acre-feet to Arizona, and 300,000 acre-feet to Nevada, and any surplus was given to split evenly between Arizona and California.
The Colorado River is generally split between the Upper Basin, made up of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming, and the Lower Basin, made up of Nevada, Arizona, and California. This amounts to over 40 million people who use the Colorado River for water. However, since 2000, the Colorado River has experienced a historically pressing drought for scientists and city planners. Those who have gone to Lake Mead can see the natural line marking where the water level used to be, versus where it is now. In 1936, the Hoover Dam had two intake valves to draw water from Lake Mead to water treatment facilities in the lower basin. Since then, the Hoover Dam had to construct a third intake valve in 2008, in case the water level should fall below the first valve, and that reality became true in 2015.
Here are three takeaways:
- We Live in a Desert: Las Vegas was constructed as a railroad stop between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles in the middle of the Mojave Desert and has grown significantly since the 1980s.
- We Share Our Water: In terms of the Colorado River, we receive the least amount of water, despite it being our only source. Both California and Arizona have at least two other sources of water and primarily use Lake Mead.
- Conservation is Key: Living in a desert makes it our responsibility to conserve the water we claim. The Lake’s water levels have been steadily declining, despite unusual weather patterns, so saving what we have is important.