[tijlover]

I'm sure there are those skeptics/pessimists who watch these YouTube video's on the record-breaking water level of Lake Powell and Hoover Dam, and would never consider moving to NV, and then there are those living there, getting scared watching these video's, and are leaving, I'm sure it's just a few! Age old saying: the basis of optimism is sheer terror!

Living here in Tucson, if we had the explosive growth of Phoenix here, over-taxing our aquifers, I might be scared enough to leave myself.

When I read of the fast growing city of Buckeye, and the mayor hoping the population soars to a half million..........

[Willy702]

Originally Posted by tijlover

I'm sure there are those skeptics/pessimists who watch these YouTube video's on the record-breaking water level of Lake Powell and Hoover Dam, and would never consider moving to NV, and then there are those living there, getting scared watching these video's, and are leaving, I'm sure it's just a few! Age old saying: the basis of optimism is sheer terror!

Living here in Tucson, if we had the explosive growth of Phoenix here, over-taxing our aquifers, I might be scared enough to leave myself.

When I read of the fast growing city of Buckeye, and the mayor hoping the population soars to a half million..........

To each his own, but why would you leave for those issues? Sure some don't consider a place for water issues, but its not like those people were great candidates to move to such a location to start with. That's the crowd who is looking for an excuse to cross something off the list.

The only thing that impacts people is the fear of turning on a spout and getting nothing and not getting anything for a long time. That happens in the developing world, but its extremely rare outside of it. A pipe getting cut or some shutdown for safety concerns are issues to deal with, but short of thinking you will get no water for months or years is not enough to affect demand for living in an area.

[Mariza160]

I was researching water usage facts lately. The average household
uses 299 gallons of water per day. That is down from 312 gallons.
Of that, 60% goes for landscaping and irrigation. So yes, get rid of
that and we still have a lot of water. Nevada is higher on individual
usage than some of the other states where farming and industrial usage
is much higher. In California, the overall bulk usage of water is
agricultural and industrial. One could say they use more than their
"fair share".

That being said, climate change is real and available water has been
decreasing. We need to be proactive about managing our water supply
and make smart choices about the best use to maintain availability for all.

[tijlover]

When I was living there, there was a plan to divert water from northern NV with a pipeline to Las Vegas. Is that plan still viable or dead in the water?

[RationalExpectations]

Originally Posted by Mariza160

I was researching water usage facts lately. The average household
uses 299 gallons of water per day. That is down from 312 gallons.
Of that, 60% goes for landscaping and irrigation. So yes, get rid of
that and we still have a lot of water. Nevada is higher on individual
usage than some of the other states where farming and industrial usage
is much higher. In California, the overall bulk usage of water is
agricultural and industrial. One could say they use more than their
"fair share".

Regarding agriculture, in California, much of the scarce water from the Colorado River is used to heavily irrigate the Imperial Valley agricultural area, which is in the Colorado Desert section of the Sonoran Desert. Imperial Valley receives about 3 in. of rain per year - and is uninhabitable without the Colorado River water diverted to it; the Colorado River supplies 100% of the area's fresh water.

Imperial Valley, intensively irrigated part of the Colorado Desert, mainly in Imperial county, southern California, U.S. The valley extends southward for 50 miles (80 km) from the southern end of the Salton Sea (a saline lake) into Mexico. Part of a trough stretching from the Coachella Valley to the Gulf of California, it is almost entirely below sea level—235 feet (72 metres) below at the edge of the Salton Sea. Its hot desert climate is characterized by daily temperature extremes. It was once part of the Gulf of California, from which it was cut off by the damlike deposits of the Colorado River Delta Fan. Bordered by sand dunes and barren mountains, it was an uninhabited wasteland until 1901, when the Imperial Canal was opened and diverted Colorado River water into the valley through Mexico. Floodwaters in 1905–07 destroyed the irrigation channels and created the Salton Sea (now maintained by irrigation runoff).

Development of the region languished until the completion of Hoover Dam in 1935 and the All-American Canal in 1940. The valley, with some 3,000 miles (5,000 km) of irrigation canals, contains about 500,000 acres (200,000 hectares) of cultivated land. Products include truck crops, alfalfa, cotton, sugar beets, and livestock. El Centro, Brawley, and Calexico are regional commercial centres, as is Mexicali, Mexico.

The water from the Colorado River is not used for high value-add crops for the most part - that is, crops that feed people (vegetables, fruit, grains). Instead, the water mostly is used for very low value-add crops such as ornamental grass (sod), grass for cattle, alfalfa for cattle or sheep or the like. It is only possible because of the rock-bottom prices they pay for water.

Originally Posted by Mariza160

We need to be proactive about managing our water supply
and make smart choices about the best use to maintain availability for all.

I'm all for water conservation and being smart about it. For example we all could have soil moisture sensors in our home landscaping that communicate with irrigation timers to automatically adjust watering frequency & duration based on actual moisture data underneath the root ball of plants. The technology exists.

Originally Posted by Mariza160

That being said, climate change is real and available water has been
decreasing.

Certainly the water level in Lake Mead speaks for itself.

But don't be too quick to quick to accept "Climate Change" as promulgated by the media orthodoxy.

"Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters"
https://www.amazon.com/Unsettled-Cli...798/ref=sr_1_1.

ISBN-10 : 1950665798

In this recently published book, Dr. Stephen Koonan, who was President Obama's Chief Climate Change Scientist, points out:

The data and academic research actually show - unequivocally - that:

1. Heat waves in the US are now no more common than they were in 1900.
2. The warmest temperatures in the US have not risen in the past fifty years.
3. Humans have had no detectable impact on hurricanes over the past century.
4. Greenland’s ice sheet isn’t shrinking any more rapidly today than it was eighty years ago.
5. The net economic impact of human-induced climate change will be minimal through at least the end of this century.

Dr. Koonin (who has impeccable scientific credentials) illustrates tornado frequency and severity are also not trending up; nor are the number and severity of droughts. The extent of global fires has been trending significantly downward. The rate of sea-level rise has not accelerated. Global crop yields are rising, not falling. And while global atmospheric CO2 levels are clearly higher now than two centuries ago, they’re not at any record planetary high—they’re at a low that has only been seen once before in the past 500 million years.

The book is copiously referenced and relies on widely accepted governmental research documents. Since all the data that Dr. Koonin uses are available to others - including journalists - he poses the obvious question: “Why haven’t you heard these facts before?”

He points to such things as incentives to invoke alarm for fundraising purposes and official reports that “mislead by omission.” Most of the primary scientific reports, he observes repeatedly, are factual. Still, “the public gets their climate information almost exclusively from the media; very few people actually read the assessment summaries let alone the studies themselves.”

The right response is to debate the actual science and the data. Sadly, lawyer-politicians who lack scientific education and lit-major-journalists who can barely spell "climate change" take "Climate Change" as religious truth. Indeed, not only do they shout down any discussion, they shout down any attempt at discussion, labeling anyone who differs from them as "Neanderthal Science Deniers." Science deniers? Just who is denying science? The irony is thick, but sadly, is lost on them. Human induced Climate Change is not settled science.

Indeed, Harvard-trained scientist, medical doctor, and novelist Michael Crichton famously summarized, in a 2003 lecture at Cal-Tech: “If it’s consensus, it isn’t science. If it’s science, it isn’t consensus. Period.”

Again, I'm all in favor of rational and intelligent water conservation; the water level in Lake Mead speaks for itself, and most all of us in Southern Nevada are conscious of it. Sadly, for the majority of people in Southern California, the water level in Lake Mead is a very distant thing never makes the front page above the fold.

[Cold Warrior]

Human induced Climate Change is not settled science.

Of course not. Science is never settled (reference Galileo, Newton, Einstein). The only value of any scientific theory is its predictive ability.

[timothyaw]

Originally Posted by tijlover

When I was living there, there was a plan to divert water from northern NV with a pipeline to Las Vegas. Is that plan still viable or dead in the water?

Dead in the water - no pun intended. I think the state Supreme Court struck down the plan. Thankfully. So SNWA is now looking at desalination plants now.

[Code Stemi]

Originally Posted by timothyaw

So SNWA is now looking at desalination plants now.

Can you provide additional information on this idea I could look into?

[tijlover]

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior

Of course not. Science is never settled (reference Galileo, Newton, Einstein). The only value of any scientific theory is its predictive ability.

Scientists can be just as distrustful as any politician. Oftentimes they're in the employ of big corporations.

Remember the 50's? Scientists were saying smoking was not dangerous to your health.

[timothyaw]

Originally Posted by Code Stemi

Can you provide additional information on this idea I could look into?

They talk about it in this article....
https://www.reviewjournal.com/brandp...-water-supply/