June 13, 2007--Stakes high for Las Vegas water czar (National Public Radio)
But still, with the population of Las Vegas doubling over the past 15 years, and with annual visitors now topping 40 million, the city needs to find more water. And it has the financial resources to pay for new water sources. The city has been working on a plan for the past 15 years to pipe billions of gallons of water 300 miles from rural valleys in central Nevada. In addition, they are looking at a building an $80 million reservoir to hold water for farmers in California. If the farmers get more water, the theory goes, then they'll need less from the Colorado River, and Las Vegas can have a bigger share. They are even developing plans to build desalination plants on the Pacific coast of Mexico. Las Vegas would then take some of Mexico's Colorado River water. In other words, the city is willing to pay to supply other places water so it can have more of its own.
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