6 Of The Most Unsustainable Cities, Analyzed
Turn off the Water When You’re Brushing Your Teeth!
Drought begets drought, so the saying goes.
Extreme heat dries out the soil, which dries out the atmosphere. As a result, there is not enough moisture in the soil to help the formation of thunderstorms. Thus, more heatwaves are in the forecast for the summer of 2021. According to Park Williams, a University of California climate and fire scientist, the soil in the Western half of the U.S. is the driest it’s been since 1895.
This is the third of a three-part series examining the effects of long-term drought in the West. Here are links to Part 1 and Part 2.
Some of our largest cities were founded at ground zero for drought. But how were they to know these cities would grow beyond their wildest imaginations?
The Phoenix metro area is on the cusp of being dangerously overextended. It’s the urban bullseye for global warming in North America”. ~Jonathan Overpeck, Climate Researcher
Here are six of our thirstiest cities, founded in the optimum environment, of course.
Albuquerque: Surprisingly, New Mexico receives 11.5% of the total apportionment of Colorado River water from the 1922 Colorado River Compact. New Mexico does have tributaries leading to the Colorado. However, most of this water is given back to Northwestern New Mexico.
Albuquerque boasts the lowest ratio of surface water to land area of any large city in the country. Great place to plunk down a city! But what did they know 300 years ago?
The city once had an aquifer that was thought to be replenished by a connection to the Rio Grande. Wrong. By the mid-1990s, it was discovered to be mostly depleted.
Conservation education, repurposing industrial and wastewater for non-potable purposes, aquifer storage and recovery, and surface water from Northern New Mexico are the four pillars the city is using. Albuquerque is now in the initial stages of water planning for the next 100 years ahead of anticipated growth. In the meantime, the reservoirs are dwindling, and the Rio Grande could run dry before it hits Albuquerque.
Fingers crossed.
Las Vegas: Is Sin City being punished? It seems so. The city went 240 days last year without rain. It is in the driest state in the country.
This year they’ve received even less rain than last (0.99 inches). It‘s a rather ludicrous place to put a city. Ah, but the building of Hoover Dam and Lake Mead! This is where Vegas gets 90% of its water.
But there’s a problem.
In 2019 a tiered system was developed by the seven states that lie in the Colorado River watershed. For the lower Colorado basin states, three tiers were established based on the level of Lake Mead.
As I mentioned above, Lake Mead is now at Tier 1, so low that there will be painful cuts in water delivery to Nevada (as well as Arizona and California) in 2022. At 1,071 feet, it is now at its lowest level ever. The lake is expected to hit Tier 2 status by the end of 2022, and there’s a 1 in 4 chance that Tier 3 will be breached by 2025. At 900 feet, Hoover Dam can no longer generate power or release any water to states downstream.
Comparatively, Las Vegas uses a lot of water. That’s one of the reasons why the city recently banned “unused” grass, which accounts for 30% of the total. This will save about 10% of water usage. In addition, water restrictions are in place year-round, and there is no landscape watering on Sunday unless you want to face a hefty fine.
Las Vegas will go on. It just might not be as bright as it once was.
Los Angeles: Where does one begin with this megalopolis in a megadrought?
The forefathers of this beautiful but unsustainable area knew that to contend with future growth, more water would be needed. So what did they do? They started a war with farmers and ranchers in the Owens Valley. What they won was the Los Angeles Aqueduct, which channeled the precious commodity 233 miles south, leaving the once verdant Owens Valley non-arable for the most part.
Built during the Great Depression, the 242-mile Colorado River aqueduct delivers water from Lake Havasu on the lower Colorado to the Los Angeles Basin.
Finally, the California aqueduct brings water to Los Angeles from one of many reservoirs in Northern California, including Lakes Oroville and Mendocino — both of which are alarmingly low.
As time goes on, groundwater supplies will become more important as these other sources of water dry up.
While most of California is in a drought emergency, there are no statewide water restrictions, although the governor recently encouraged its citizens to cut water usage by 15% voluntarily. Restrictions, when needed, will be decided by each municipality, making for a patchwork of rules and regulations.
Hooray for Hollywood.
Phoenix: As overused as the phrase is, Phoenix is on steroids. It has grown to be the fifth-largest city and the tenth-largest MSA in the country in a very short period. This is true of its suburbs, too — Mesa is now bigger than the city of Atlanta.
According to an article in azbigmedia.com, “Phoenix is not in a water shortage. Phoenix is prepared.” Annual studies conducted by both United and North American Van Lines indicate that inbound moves are going to the Phoenix area more than any other region in the country. (Idaho is the leading state in both studies.)
Built from 1973–1993, the Central Arizona Project (CAP) pulls water from the Colorado River to Phoenix and Tucson. Phoenix stores some of its water in Tucson’s aquifers for later delivery.
Conservation is key in Phoenix, and the residential gallons of usage per capita per day has fallen about 30% over the last 20 years. However, with Lake Mead reaching Tier 1 status, little CAP water will be delivered to agricultural customers next year.
Phoenix may have to take back some of that water from Tucson if this keeps up.
St. George: And now we have sneaky St. George getting into the game. It is the fastest-growing MSA in the U.S. St. George was barely a thought in 1950.
Let’s talk about Utah for a moment. Utah is the second driest state in the country, behind Nevada. At 186 gallons used per person per day, Utah is the state with the second-highest usage, again only behind Nevada.
What are people thinking???
Running through the city, the Virgin River is the main source of water, and it is not enough to quench the thirst of those that move here every year. The river could be depleted in ten years.
SOOO, you know by now that the Colorado River is the next suspect. At the cost of $1–2 billion, a proposed new pipeline running from Lake Powell to the Sand Hollow Reservoir is in the works. That would directly impact Nevada and Las Vegas, taking even more water from Lake Mead and further downstream.
Says Tick Degerblom, a Clark County (NV) commissioner, “This is the first salvo in the coming water wars.”
Tucson: If you drew a polygon from Tucson to Tucumcari, Tehachapi to Tonopah, you’d have an area that is nearly 100% in exceptional drought.
Tucson was blessed by being built on top of a large aquifer, but they don’t last forever without replenishment. It receives a share of the Colorado River from the CAP. Tucson’s aquifers are dependent on flow from the Colorado — the city says it can manage up to a 50% reduction in flow. That would result in about 40 more years without pumping from the aquifer.
Conclusion
Despite their growth, water demand has fallen far below expectations in Albuquerque, Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. Los Angeles is planning for its water needs to 2040. Las Vegas’ plan extends through 2036. Officials in Phoenix say it is ready with a plan if Tier 3 is reached.
Will cities like Los Angeles and Las Vegas become uninhabitable because of the lack of water? It doesn’t appear that will happen in the short term. But migration from California is already happening. More people are leaving California than they are moving in. Texas and Idaho are seeing huge surges of migrants from The Golden State. (However, much of this movement is due to politics and taxes along with a high cost of living.)
Long-term climate predictions are still tricky. In the meantime, the message is conserve, conserve, conserve.
Sources for this series come from Wikipedia, The U.S Census Bureau, NOAA, National Weather Service, Politico LLC-E&E News, Outside Magazine, Tucson.com, AZ Big Media.com, The Guardian, Science Magazine, Nevada Business, Las Vegas Sun, U. S. Water Alliance, Las Vegas Valley Water District, and KUNC-Radio for Northern Colorado.
