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PART 6: Southern Nevada water agency intensifies turf war

Residents and cities are buying into the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s campaign against ornamental sod. Since 1999, more than 187 million square feet of grass have been removed and untold millions more were never planted.

PART 7: How Southern Nevada puts water away for a not-so-rainy day

Las Vegas Valley water managers opened the community’s first water savings account 20 years ago, literally banking on the day thevalley could no longer live on its Colorado River allotment alone.

PART 8: Could saving Salton Sea help boost Colorado River?

Former Southern Nevada Water Authority chief Pat Mulroy is championing a plan that would leave more water in the Colorado and replace it with desalinated ocean water pumped from Mexico to Southern California.

Southern Nevada's most important resource
is facing its biggest crisis ever.
How much longer can the Colorado River sustain us?
The Water
Question
Scroll down to begin
The map of the western united states
Upper Colorado Snow Pack Salt Lake City Denver Phoenix Albuquerque Las Vegas San Diego Los Angeles Tucson Lake Mead Lake Powell
How much of their water comes from the Colorado River?
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No Southwestern state gets less water from the Colorado River than Nevada.

No major city relies on that water more than Las Vegas.

But the river is in trouble.

Twenty years of withering drought in the mountains that feed the Colorado have sapped its flow and shrunk its two largest reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead.

The surface of Lake Mead is 130 feet lower now than it was in January 2000. It is expected to fall another 30 feet by January 2021, without significant cuts by water users.

Southern Nevada is spending almost $1.5 billion on a new straw and pumping station at Lake Mead that can draw water from the bottom of the shrinking reservoir.

But how much more can Las Vegas grow before the water runs out?

In this series, the Review-Journal will take a close look at where our water comes from and where our community is headed.

Read the full series here

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PART 6: Southern Nevada water agency intensifies turf war

Residents and cities are buying into the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s campaign against ornamental sod. Since 1999, more than 187 million square feet of grass have been removed and untold millions more were never planted.

PART 7: How Southern Nevada puts water away for a not-so-rainy day

Las Vegas Valley water managers opened the community’s first water savings account 20 years ago, literally banking on the day thevalley could no longer live on its Colorado River allotment alone.

PART 8: Could saving Salton Sea help boost Colorado River?

Former Southern Nevada Water Authority chief Pat Mulroy is championing a plan that would leave more water in the Colorado and replace it with desalinated ocean water pumped from Mexico to Southern California.