Why Las Vegas is NOT Running Out of Water Anytime Soon

Interesting -https://fb.watch/hEv_Ctxwgs/

Of course. This guy acts as if he just discovered the Colorado River Compact. He mentions "Vegas won't turn into a ghost town"--as if anyone ever said it would. He mentions "Vegas won't run out of water"--as if anyone ever said it would. What might happen is that stricter conservation measures would be enforced. But as I mentioned in my comment to a recent QoD, Nevada's lower basin rights are senior to those of CA and AZ.

He also complains that the other Compact states get a much higher percentage of the allocated river flow than Nevada does. What he fails to mention is that Nevada has virtually no agricultural use for Colorado River water, but the other states do. And since agricultural use accounts for roughly 80% of overall consumption, California getting 27% and Nevada getting 2% isn't unreasonable at all--since CA's residential use is only about 5%, compared to Nevada's 2%.

He's correct in that Las Vegas is one of the most efficient water-using cities in the US. His implication that other Basin states aren't being as efficient isn't accurate, though. What might happen is that CA and AZ will be forced to cut back on agricultural consumption--probably by deleting water-intensive crops, such as citrus and almonds.

He fails to account for "dead pool" in his estimation of how much usable water is left in Lake Mead. Also, that calculation must depend on the levels of Lake Powell and other upstream reservoirs.

I've read extensively on this subject, and if there's one thing that's apparent, it's that an eight-minute video can't even scratch the surface of this complex situation. But he's right about one thing--Las Vegas isn't in any real trouble.

 The bottom line of his video - "Las Vegas isn't in any real trouble."

Yes. No one ever said it was. He's arguing against a straw man.

It took 20 years for Lake Mead to go from 100% full to 20% full.   If that trend continues Las Vegas is in a bunch of trouble.....and they can recycle all the water they want to no avail.   True, Vegas will be in better shape than Phonenix -  SO what?  Thats like saying Mike Huckabbee's obesity isn't as bad as Chris Christie's.   I'm not buying real estate there anytime soon

   I enjoyed this video. I had no idea that Nevada received the smallest percentage of the allocated water, @ 1.8%. California is receiving the largest allocation, @ 27 %. The original contract was agreed to in 1921, possibly since it it 101 years later, the agreement may need to be revisited and the allocation percentages modified. 

There's no need to do that, as the allocation percentages (luckily) reflect actual present-day use. Nevada's agricultural water needs are met by runoff from the Sierras and the Humboldts, neither of which intersect with the Colorado.

The biggest legal challenges to the Compact came from Arizona, which argued that the Compact didn't take into account the huge postwar growth experienced by the state (its population and usage were tiny in the 1920s). CA, the primary rival for the lower Basin water, vigorously resisted any re-allocations. Arizona's ultimate solution was to "intercept" water headed for the Colorado by building the (federally funded!!) Salt River Project.

So if interstate disputes break out, it'll probably be the federal government that resolves them, one way or another.

Nevada has the right to a greater percentage of existing Lake Mead storage than its allocation percentage suggests, thanks to water "banked" when it used even less than its entitled 1.8% over the years.

Lake Mead won't be allowed to drop below levels needed to provide Las Vegas with drinking water. Before that happens, AZ and CA's agricultural withdrawals will be sharply curtailed. Neither of those two states depends entirely on Colorado river basin water for their agricultural needs. If push comes to shove, water can be released from Lake Powell.

Actually, though, by far the more pressing problem is a looming loss of hydroelectric generating capacity as the level of Mead continues to drop.

You really think so?    The Fed's can jump in at any time and tear up those agreements.  How long do you think it would take for that to happen if people nationally see  empty produce shelves at the grocery?     Lake Powell is running dry too.     

Less snowpack, more people = a really bad game of musical chairs.    Dont think I would want to put myself in a position to be impacted by it.

Lets hope we get a few years of better precipitation and progress on alternate sources of hydration.

 California is currently alloted 27% of the water. They have 830 miles of coastline. Building desalination plants along their coastlines could generate copious amounts of water. California has a massive population of homeless and illegals who could be employed to build and maintain the plants. Doing so would address several problems; (1) homelessness, (2) never ending supply of illegal aliens, (3) the amount of water needed from the Colodado agreement could be lessened and redistributed to other land locked states. A virtual Win-Win-Win for all concerned. Since this line of reasoning makes too much sense, I expect for it to be ridiculed and shot down by the resident dissenters who bloviate here daily.