The City That Wasn’t Supposed to Be - The Ripple Effect: The Fate of Freshwater in the Twenty-First Century - page 142

vehemently disagrees with those conclusions, complaining that the institute focused on
“indoor conservation”—more efficient toilets and showers—where “the relative gain is
marginal” and doesn't alter the essential problem: “you cannot create more water.”
Water rates in Las Vegas are comparatively low, which critics say encourages demand
and furthers growth. In summer months, a Las Vegan household typically uses seven-
teen thousand gallons of water per month and pays $36.64, or about two cents per ten
gallons, according to SNWA. Average use in the winter is eleven thousand gallons, cost-
ing $21. But critics such as UC Berkeley resource economist David Zetland contend
that low water rates are self-defeating. “Many people blame the 'shortage' of water in the
southwest US on overpopulation … this critique is not valid for water (the shortage is
because demand exceeds supply at low LOW prices),” Zetland writes in his Aguanomics
blog. Reducing development, he says, will reduce water demand: “One way to do this …
is to raise water prices—if it's too expensive to do business or live in Las Vegas, people
will move to places where it's cheaper.”
Mulroy takes exception to that : “Pricing alone will not effectuate more conservation.
It is one of several tools we use. But Las Vegas is a very affluent community. For the sul-
tan of Brunei, it doesn't matter what we charge him. On the other hand, I have a prob-
lem with affixing high water rates on the backs of the little guy who can't afford it.”
In other words, raising water prices is politically risky. As is the suggestion that land-
use policy and water-use policy be more directly linked. Currently, a development is
proposed and then water is found to supply it. Critics say this formula has it back-
ward: new building should take place only if there is enough water to support it. Mulroy
dodges this question, saying that her only job is to supply water, not restrict Clark
County's growth.
“We're expecting one hundred million more people in this country by 2040,” she said.
“Everybody talks about 'controlling growth.' Well, tell me, where do we want people to
go? You could shut the town down, I guess, but I don't know of any metropolitan area in
a no-growth mode. It's not whetherLas Vegas grows, it's howwe grow. If we are smart
about our water and waste, this community can grow forever.”
It's an intriguing thought, but it may be a wishful one. The earth has a fixed supply of
freshwater: to manage it sustainably, man will have no choice but to link land use and
water use more intentionally and to radically shift the way urban centers are planned. As
the examples of Perth, Australia, Barcelona, Spain, Atlanta, Georgia, and other drought-
stricken cities have shown, water supply will increasingly limit growth—especially in
regions such as southern Nevada, which are in the bull's-eye for aridification by global
warming.
In October 1998 , the water in Lake Mead reached a nearly all-time high of 1,215.76
feet. A year later, the Colorado River Basin slipped into the first year of what would