Water the Lawns

PART III- URBAN SETTLEMENTS

Growing Demands

Is the grass always greener? Source: Hollywood Bollywood

The American Southwest is home to some of the largest American cities! These cities help drive the country's economy and are iconic in the global cultural landscape. However, without enough water can these cities continue to exist? Will future generations be able to Viva Las Vegas?

It's undeniable how quickly the Southwest has grown. Las Vegas went from a town of under 300,000 in the 1990s to now over 600,000 people! The speed of urban growth in the Southwest has put many municipal governments under pressure to provide for their new citizens; water departments particularly face this pressure when these new residents expect clean endless water. Yet when predicting future Vegas growth more people will continue to move to areas poor water supplies putting further pressure on the water industry (Sun et al. 2013). 

The sustainability of these cities is at stake. Take Las Vegas, the city is in the desert and 90% of the city depends on Lake Mead as a water source (CBS News 30/01/14). As the Colorado River flows through multiple states, the states have set up agreements to the rights of the river. Yet times have changed since the allocations were set and Vegas is no longer a small town. If Vegas is to continue growing it'll need more water and yet the Lake is disappearing and the quality of water is threatened with increased growth (CBS News 30/01/14; Sun et al. 2013). However, the persistent drought stands in the way. ALL the states need the water more than ever so Las Vegas has little chances of siphoning off water from somewhere else AND someone else (Las Vegas Sun 29/06/14). It's a tricky situation, continue to quench Vegas' thirst or try and keep the farmlands green?

Are we going to... gamble... on our future? Source: Film International

Los Angeles, the second largest urban settlement in America, also has its share of water shortages. The Metropolitan Water District (From San Diego to San Bernardino County) is managing the same amount of water as it did in the 1990s but now the population has jumped from 14 million to 19 million (Huffington Post 23/01/14). L.A. relies on nearly half of its water to be imported and another large chunk to come from groundwater. This is not to say that cities like L.A. have poor water management; in fact the water infrastructure is well designed and complex, it's just that the environment has changed and now the infrastructure needs to follow suit (Huffington Post 23/01/14). 

Don't fear though! The cities are making progress for water conservation! L.A. has implemented several water saving strategies such as recycling water, encouraging the use high efficiency washing machines and toilets, and implementing mandatory water conservation strategies (LADWP 2013). Los Angeles actually pays its citizens to re-landscape to more drought tolerant species in what it calls "Cash for Grass". From the LADWP website they state:

• "Since 1977, LADWP's Water Conservation Program has saved over 106,000 acre-feet per year (AFY) of water."

That's a lot water to go around!

Some will argue the cost of water conservation is too high. O'Connor et al. (2010) use L.A. as an example to show the costs of total water management and their findings are costly. Yet in the long run isn't spending the $566 million in a recycled water treatment plant worth it when the alternative could be water insecurity? What about the costs of maintaining an unsustainable water network? The more knowledge and concern the citizens of these cities have the more likely they'll further support water management strategies and even water price increases (Salvaggio et al. 2014). With more citizen involvement in water planning more citizen awareness will be generated thus fueling even more water conservation. Unlike the farming world, the cities appear more able, although this does not assume willingness, to adapt.

What do you think, will the cities be able to quench their growing thirsts?