Las Vegas requiring companies to report their water usage before they can open up

[thewayne]

This is a very smart move. With Colorado River water at a terrible low and not expected to improve much, the city is grading new projects based on consumptive water, "the amount ... that the state won’t reclaim from the company’s operations. This includes water used in products that are sold." They then assign a score evaluating the amount of economic input the company will generate in terms of jobs created, tax revenue, etc and if the score is not positive, the business plan gets reevaluated.

I'll bet a lot of Colorado River-dependent metroplexes will be adopting similar policies over the next few years, at least if they're smart.

https://gizmodo.com/las-vegas-wants-to-know-how-much-water-companies-use-1850844134

Comments

[kaishin108]

Better late than never I guess.
It's a start though!

[disneydream06]

WOWZA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bought time somebody starts to act.
I assume it's not retroactive though. :o
Hugs, Jon

[thewayne]

Hard to say.  There's a saying, Climate is what you want, weather is what you get.  Climate is the long-term, somewhat predictable, weather is the ''Oh, look!  A hurricane is off the coast and we have only a few days warning!"  So the question is, will there be a climate change that restores snow cap build-up, which restores ice melt which is what feeds Colorado River runoff which is the main source of water that we're discussing.

[disneydream06]

Sounds like wishful thinking. :(

[thewayne]

Could happen!  But I'm not laying any money down on it happening.  I think we're beyond the tipping point and anything we do now will be to make things less horrible.

[disneydream06]

Sad but true. :(

[kathmandu]

Wow, that is shockingly radical for Las Vegas. Here's hoping other areas follow suit, and that the evaluations are accurate and not based on lies.

[thewayne]

Vegas cares about money.  And water.  Can't have money without water.  I'll give odds (heh heh) that the reports will be pretty darn accurate.

[silveradept]

Given how much a community in the middle of a desert has to rely on water for their continued existence, this is a good decision on their part. The best time to do it would have been decades ago, but the next best time to do it is now.