Las Vegas Floating $1 Billion-plus Pipeline Plan As Drought Continues

[hatrack]

Vegas area scouting for water, considering $1 billion pipeline LAS VEGAS (AP) - "Southern Nevada's thirst for water is not new, but drought has the regional water authority scouting for new supplies and considering a $1 billion-plus pipeline that would be the area's largest public works project since the Hoover Dam.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority is looking to the rugged desert landscape north of Las Vegas, with officials predicting more than a million people might one day be served by water from the Muddy and Virgin rivers and the mountains and valleys of Clark, Nye, Lincoln and White Pine counties. Tapping that supply would require environmental approvals, cooperation with the affected counties and the go-ahead from the Nevada state engineer, who is responsible for ensuring that new wells do not threaten existing groundwater supplies."

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That project should go to bid in May. Brothers said the water authority hopes to be able by about 2011 to pipe about 36,000 acre-feet of water a year to Las Vegas, enough water for 150,000 people. Clark County construction and development interests, which would dry up without water to support expansion, want new wells and pipelines established as soon as possible. The region now consumes about 300,000 acre-feet of water a year, almost all of it from Lake Mead, the reservoir formed by Hoover Dam."

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http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2004/feb/23/022310223.html

[NNadir]

1. What a happy thought.

[DenverDem]

2. Idiotic waste of money.

Move the hell out of the desert, morans.

If the mob pays for it out of their gambling scam, and pays a large stupidity tariff, then let them have the water.

[midnight armadillo]

3. Human arrogance

Rather than admitting that Las Vegas has already exceeded the natural capacity of its surroundings by an enormous amount, they choose to compound the problem by stealing resources from far away...you could file this story next to the definition of 'hubris' in the dictionary.

LV has 64 golf courses - in the desert. I wonder how much water those alone use, not to mention the nice green lawns?

[ramapo]

5. Las Vegas has been the Fastest growing metro region

Americans flock to the middle of the desert where it is incredibly hot requiring massive amounts of energy in order to keep cool. To top it off, it is as dry as it is hot, yet people insist on having having green lawns, individual swimming pools, and too many golf courses.

The amount of water wasted is astounding. I imagine water costs must be subsidized in some way.

The price of water (along with gasoline) must (and will) rise substantially. That is probably the only thing that will cure Americans of their incredibly stupid and wasteful lifestyles.

[Atlant]

4. Paging Randall Flagg... Randall Flagg, please pick up the white clue phone