Las Vegas Casinos Gamble on Future Water Distribution

Cities in the Southwest have long gazed enviously at the water usage rates controlled by the agricultural areas.

In Las Vegas and throughout Nevada, casinos and gambling are the lifeblood of the economy. Just a little further west, across the California border, agriculture supports the region with thousands of acres of farmland. The two are primed to clash in the very near future in a battle recurring throughout the history of the American Southwest over that most valuable of substances: water.

Water from the Colorado River slakes the thirst of almost all of Nevada, Arizona, and California. As urban areas have grown, so too has their need for fresh water; meanwhile, produce fields that feed the nation must raise production to meet expanding demand. Now, water experts are projecting that Lake Mead, the largest manmade lake in the United States, may go dry by 2021 at present usage rates.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman (pictured), showing the feistiness that made him a successful mob defense lawyer, fired a salvo last week at the residents and farmers of the Imperial and Coachella Valleys, stating at a press conference, "No one is going to allow us to dry up. The Imperial Valley farmers will have their fields go fallow before our spigots run dry." 

Cities in the Southwest have long gazed enviously at the water usage rates controlled by the agricultural areas. Water is measured in acre-feet, one of which equals 327,000 gallons; the Imperial Irrigation District receives 3.1 million acre-feet per year. The Coachella Valley Water District is allotted about 450,000 acre-feet annually; by contrast, the entire state of Nevada gets only 300,000 acre-feet.

The water rights on the Colorado River were decided in a compact in 1922 that would require Congress to consent to any changes. Coachella Valley Water District General Manager Steve Robbins responded to Goodman, calling his oratory "ridiculous and inflammatory," and noted farmers were not about to give up their water claims.

Perhaps both sides should examine the realities and practicalities of the issue, before attacking each other. Las Vegas is certainly not going to engender support for water poverty while the Bellagio pumps thousands of gallons into the desert sky on an hourly basis. Meanwhile, the ranch houses of the California farmlands do not need Kentucky bluegrass growing in rich abundance across their lawns. 

If both sides used common sense and free-market tools, the problem could be abated. Landscaping natural to the region would make sense in both city and farm. Casinos have already acted to lessen the laundering burden created by millions of tourists, asking that guests not use towels wastefully and only request fresh as needed. The Imperial Valley receives water at $17 per acre-foot; cities would pay ten or twenty times that, and the sale could benefit both sides. If restrictions were in place to prevent wasteful use of water yearround, and the natural price of water were freer to respond to supply and demand, the water issue might largely take care of itself.