The colorado river is in crisis, and it's getting worse every day

[waltcolorado]

quotes from moguldreamer

At the margin, if we spend an extra $XXX on water generation via exotic means, and the result is $YYY in economic output, and if $XXX << $YYYY, then spending the money is effective.

Clean nuclear energy to power desalination is a no-brainer.

First, Im not sure where your number of 4M acre ft deficit per year comes from but this site https://www.grandcanyontrust.org/adv...6/problem-math says its

Every year since 2003, states have diverted more water than has come into the river. The 2012 Bureau of Reclamation study ominously concluded that this deficit could average 3.2 million acre-feet per year by 2060

.

This site https://e360.yale.edu/features/as-wa...%20acre%2Dfoot. descrbes a desalination plant in process and gives these numbers

San Antonio currently is building what will be the largest brackish water desal plant in the country. In its first phase, it produces 12 million gallons a day, enough for 40,000 families, but by 2026, the plant – known as H2Oaks – will produce 30 million gallons a day. Brackish water de-sal costs $1,000 to $2,000 per acre-foot.

Lets assume an average operating cost for desalination plant of $1500 per acre ft. I assume thats based on the cost of electricity at current rates and doesn't include the cost of building nuclear plants, mining and disposing of nuclear waste and defending against all sorts of security threats.

So what is the cost of generating 3.2M acre ft per year (even though its a 2060 estimate)? This isnt taking into account the costs of building the plants, water distribution, building nuclear plants etc..

$4.8 Billion is just the cost per year to generate the fresh water and you need 95 desalination plants similar to the largest one being built in the country's (San Antonio). Remember 4.8B is just the yearly operating cost based on todays numbers. Im not even going to try and take a stab at the cost of building 95 desalination plants plus the (not so clean because of nuclear waste) nuclear plants to support the huge power involved.

What will conservation cost? The largest impact will likely be less farming in desert areas, maybe less lush green lawns and swimming pools. Unfortunate for the farmers that will see the farming move to better locations.

Another interesting link.. https://www.hcn.org/articles/opinion...tion-in-demand

So... Im getting an idea of what no brainer means..

[otowi]

UAE is investigating wind power for desalination to reduce the cost from $2.80/1000L to as low as $1.57/1000L. https://www.windpowermonthly.com/art...n-cheaper-wind.

New technology is pricey but often becomes affordable as other technology and infrastructure catches up.

[Willy702]

Originally Posted by BarryK123

And Las Vegas has no business having so many golf courses. And then there are the Bellagio Fountains...

https://youtu.be/Yk5pqIf-2jI

[BarryK123]

Thanks for the link, Willy702.

I don't understand the MGM's comment, "Bellagio fountain water comes from a private well" as justification. Is he trying to say its water source is isolated from the aquifer and has no effect on the overall water supply?

[otowi]

The Bellagio fountains lose enough water each year to fill 600 average home-owner pools in the city. However, this isn't even a drop in the bucket compared to how much water is consumed/used by the 42 million annual visitors to the strip, using an average of 63 gallons of water a day per person with an average stay of 3.5 nights. And THAT (strip hotel guest use) is only 7% of the annual water use of the city of Las Vegas. The fountains are not the problem.

https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/cgi/vi...%20evaporation.

[Willy702]

Originally Posted by BarryK123

Thanks for the link, Willy702.

I don't understand the MGM's comment, "Bellagio fountain water comes from a private well" as justification. Is he trying to say its water source is isolated from the aquifer and has no effect on the overall water supply?

It's not on SNWA so it doesn't impact Lake Mead which is what everyone is watching. Bellagio was built on a golf course, the Dunes, which historically used aquifer water. The argument being made is that Bellagio couldn't build the fountains without those aquifer rights. It's kind of a passing the buck around situation, but water for large scale uses is available at a pretty steep price. Wynn was looking for water rights when it was planning its lake project on the golf course land. The lack of water rights was quietly said to be a real issue even though Wynn's nrw management claimed it was a business decision