Hoover Dam...no power for California?

[medeak]

the NYTimes ran an article yesterday re Lake Mead could be dry in 13 yrs..
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/us/13mead.html?scp=1&sq=lake+mead&st=nyt

what the article doesn't say...is that if Lake Mead falls any farther..Hoover Dam will unable to provide power to southern CA and AZ... Las Vegas papers are full of the news (am traveling and can't access on laptop) Vegas has been trying to make a water grab from Northern NV ranchers to feed their out of control growth...but it seems much more serious now.. pray tell...Can Vegas go without the water guzzling golf courses and waterfalls? and do the right thing?

[enlightenment]

1. Living in Las Vegas -

The water guzzling golf courses and waterfalls aren't the problem - they actually consume very little water in comparison to the real problem, residential water use 15% versus 58%(7% casinos/7.9% golf courses/42.9% single family residential/15% multi-family residential). I'm not a huge fan of the mega-casinos, but you can't really blame them for the problems Vegas has with water consumption.

It's the people who live here (and I include myself, though I do try!)

This is very informative; put out by the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
http://www.snwa.com/html/wr_resource_plan.html

[Adsos Letter]

2. Do you see the problem areas being in trying to support

lush lawns in a climate more demanding of xeriscaping?

[karlrschneider]

3. I don't think she was defending it, just posting a simple usage breakdown

...:P

[Adsos Letter]

6. no need for the snark...

I was simply asking HER where she thought the primary source of waste in private use was.

[karlrschneider]

7. Uh, snark? No, dearie...when I snark you'll know it.

:D

[Adsos Letter]

8. Oh, pardon me [i]dearie[/i]...

I tend to associate the stuck-out-tongue smiley, in association with the tone of your post, as snark...

But you go ahead and piss on my leg and tell me it's rainin', mk?

[karlrschneider]

9. I never thought that smiley meant snark!

Seriously...I always thought it was like a happy puppy...happy but a little nonplussed by the world, and applied to the poster (me), not the uh, postee.

[Adsos Letter]

10. Let us speak no more of this...

wires have been crossed...I admit to knee-jerkiness...let there be peace between us...America doesn't need another war... :D

:hi:

[karlrschneider]

11. I agree!

:toast:

[Adsos Letter]

12. ...

:toast:

[enlightenment]

17. Partially,

but before I continue, let me address the posters above . . . I think a adsosletter's question is sincere, really. Just a question, not an attack. Thank you, though.

Okay - back to the question. I'm not a water expert but I think it's a combination of factors. According to the SNWA, the most loss comes from water waste, not just from lawns but from leaky pipes and things like washing cars at home. Having said that, yes - it's ridiculous for people to try and have lawns here. This is the desert. It just "ain't natural!"

I give credit to the authorities on this point - they are trying to get people to move from grass to xeriscaping with incentives. For a number of years they offered rebates of $1 per square foot that was xeriscaped and recently they upped that to $2 per square foot. It's expensive to do, but that cuts the cost by about a third.

Eventually (hopefully sooner rather than later) they will mandate xeriscaping. It's not a very 'democratic' thing to do, but something has to give.

That said - in my humble opinion there are no "lush, green lawns" here. Just lawns with an unnatural shade of irrigation green with brown edges.

eta: changed below to above, because I can never figure out where these posts land in the line-up!

[MADem]

4. Time for advances in desalinization, as well as work on wind/solar

to provide power to get the water inland, perhaps???

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

5. Global warming could hit very close to home, sooner than we thought

"Despite an abundant snowfall in Colorado this year, scientists project that snowpacks and their runoffs will continue to dwindle. If they do, the system for delivering water across the Southwest would become increasingly unstable."

[dysfunctional press]

14. what do people who build houses and communities in deserts and other arid regions expect?

:shrug:
(here's a hint- move to where the water is.)

[Thothmes]

15. For the same reasons

People build homes along sea coasts that are prone to Hurricanes, Tsunamis etc, and rivers prone to flooding.

[dysfunctional press]

16. but at least they have water. a basic requirement to sustain life.

albeit sometimes more than they might like.

[dysfunctional press]

13. the waterfalls and golf courses generally use grey water, i believe...

they aren't the problem.

but- why can't california do something about producing more power in their own state, anyway?