U.S. Water News Online
SPARKS, Nev. -- The water that fuels glitzy megaresorts and lush green golf courses in Las Vegas provides a greater economic return than that used to grow crops in California's Imperial Valley, a Vegas-area leader told a water conference here.
Drop for drop, the water used for tourism and gambling in Las Vegas is one of the most efficient uses of a precious Western resource that generates billions of dollars for Nevada coffers, said Richard Holmes, assistant Clark County manager.
``Our use of water for the primary industry in southern Nevada -- gaming -- is probably several hundred times the value per acre foot than ... you'll find in Imperial Valley,'' he said in a speech to an annual meeting of the Nevada Water Resource Association.
Rural and urban interests were joining together at the conference in Sparks to discuss a variety of water-related issues, from economics and conservation, to water quality, planning and groundwater contamination.
Not everyone agrees with the priority Holmes' placed on the needs of urban growth over farmers dependent on agricultural irrigation.
``Are we going to get our food from Third World countries so we can support golf courses and slot machines?'' asked Jim Shaw of Yerington, federal water master for the Walker River.
The Walker River begins in California's eastern Sierra and drains into northern Nevada's Walker Lake. Most of its water is diverted for agriculture.
Afterward, Holmes said he didn't mean to imply that farms and ranches should be replaced by high-rises and slot machines to make better use of water. He also suggested that those who reap bigger economic gains through its use should help improve water systems as a whole to benefit all users.
Holmes said 77 percent of the water used in Southern Nevada comes from the Colorado River, a source that also supplies water to six other states.
Nevada's share is least among the states, receiving an annual allotment of 300,000 acre feet. An acre foot is about 326,000 gallons, or enough water for a family of five for a year. Arizona receives 2.85 million acre feet, while California gets 4.4 million acre feet.
Unlike the other states along the river system, most of Nevada's take supports residential and service industries, as opposed to agriculture.
Las Vegas hotel-casinos account for about 7 percent of southern Nevada's total water use, Holmes said.
``With that 7 percent of the water, we think it's probably one of the most profitable things you can do with water in the Colorado Basin,'' Holmes said. ``We've got probably over $100,000 per acre foot of earnings in any of our casinos.''
Holmes said in 2000, Clark County used 480,000 acre feet of water, compared with 2.9 million gallons used in Imperial County, Calif.
The revenue generated by Clark County's main industry during that time -- gambling -- outpaced that of Imperial County's agricultural by more than seven-to-one, Holmes said.
The disparity of the economic gains for the counties was even greater, $9.6 billion compared to $144 million, he said.
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