A new coalition of Western city water agencies pledged to step up conservation efforts amid the 22-year megadrought draining the Colorado River. The environmental advocacy community diverged on how much to praise or blast the effort. Water providers in Denver, Colorado Springs, Aurora, Pueblo, Las Vegas and a Southern California umbrella group all pledged to […]
Las Vegas
Posted inNews
Las Vegas to cap size of home swimming pools to help ease pressure on Colorado River
By Ken Ritter, The Associated Press Limiting the size of new swimming pools in and around Las Vegas might save a drop in the proverbial bucket amid historic drought and climate change in the West. Officials are taking the plunge anyway, capping the size of new swimming pools at single-family residential homes to about the […]
Posted inNews, Water
Las Vegas’ water intake now visible at drought-stricken Lake Mead
LAS VEGAS — A massive drought-starved reservoir on the Colorado River has become so depleted that Las Vegas now is pumping water from deeper within Lake Mead where other states downstream don’t have access. The Southern Nevada Water Authority announced this week that its Low Lake Level Pumping Station is operational, and released photos of […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, News, Politics and Government, Water
Tired of mowing your lawn? Colorado could pay you $2 a square foot to rip it out.
Colorado would expand grass turf buyouts statewide and double existing city rip-and-replace programs in a bill aimed at solving misuse of precious water during the state’s long-term drought. The bipartisan bill would create a $2 million to $4 million annual pool from general fund money to pay homeowners, businesses or any other landlords willing to […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, News, Water
The Colorado River is drying up faster than federal officials can keep track. Mandatory water cuts are looming.
A blunt new report based on June runoff conditions from the Colorado River into Lake Powell and Lake Mead shows the reservoirs fast deteriorating toward “dead pool” status, where stored water is so low it can’t spin the massive hydroelectric power generators buried in the dams, and large swaths of Arizona farmland going fallow. The […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Water
Colorado, southwestern U.S. states now have a Jan. 31 deadline for drought deal
By Ken Ritter, The Associated Press LAS VEGAS — The head of the federal agency controlling the Colorado River said Thursday the U.S. government will impose unprecedented restrictions on water supplies to the seven Southwestern U.S. states that depend on the river unless everyone agrees by Jan. 31 on a plan to deal with an expected […]
Posted inEnvironment, Growth, News, Politics and Government, Water
“We all know the clock is ticking”: Colorado, other western states to meet at deadline on Colorado River drought plan
By Ken Ritter, The Associated Press LAS VEGAS — With drought entering a second decade and reservoirs continuing to shrink, seven Southwestern U.S. states that depend on the overtaxed Colorado River for crop irrigation and drinking water had been expected to ink a crucial share-the-pain contingency plan by the end of 2018. They’re not going to […]