- You see the light color bands here
that's what we call a bathtub ring.
Those are calcium deposits from when the water was
up at that level.
(urgent music)
The primary reason we're having a water shortage is we're in
the 22nd year of drought in the Colorado River basin.
This is historic, we're at the lowest level at Lake Mead
since it filled in the 1930's.
(urgent music)
- The intense drought, heat and wildfires in the west.
These are all part of a wake-up call for people to really
understand that water should be valued.
This is not an infinite resource, we are living in limits.
And also this isn't just drought at Mead,
this really is climate change.
This is years in the making and that we need to be thinking
about our water resources more holistically.
(people chattering) (somber music)
(soft uneasy music)
- The water is down about 150 feet in elevation
from where it was 22 years ago.
We would be standing under water right here 22 years ago.
(soft uneasy music)
In August we'll make the determination
for the operations for the year 2022.
And it looks like we'll have to declare a shortage
in the lower basin.
(soft uneasy music)
- Resiliency for our infrastructure is really needed to be
able to address, you know,
the recurrence of some of these events
that we expect will keep happening.
We're still gonna have fires.
We're still gonna have really,
really dry periods and really, really wet periods.
So there are communities in the Southwest that are really
having to think about
do we have a long-term secure water supply to be able
to support the people that live here?
(soft uneasy music)
(upbeat music)
- Southern Nevada only receives four inches
of rain every single year.
So we are solely and highly dependent upon the water that we
get from lake Mead and from the Colorado River.
(upbeat music)
For the past 20 years through water conservation
and water recycling programs,
our community has reduced its consumption of Colorado River
water by 23%,
yet our population has grown by more than 800,000 people
during that same time period.
Because our community has done such a good job conserving,
We're gonna be able to absorb those shortage volumes
without having to make any drastic changes right now.
(upbeat music)
We're here at the Las Vegas Wash.
This is actually like an urban river for southern Nevada.
We recycle all of our indoor water use.
That means whether you flush the toilet or you use that
water in a shower or when you brushed your teeth,
we reclaim all of that water back.
These wetland plants that we have out here,
they help absorb some of the nutrients that get left over
from the wastewater treatment process.
And those plants absorbing that nutrients then ultimately
keeps that nutrients out of Lake Mead, that helps improve
and maintain the quality of the water that is in Lake Mead.
Southern Nevada has really demonstrated to the rest of the
nation that progressive and comprehensive water conservation
programs do yield water savings.
(upbeat music)
(somber music)
- We're considered river people.
Everything about the river of our culture, our heritage,
everything that we use has to do with the water,
the plats and the wildlife that it brings it sustains.
Our name literally translates
to those who went down the river.
When I was growing up, I couldn't swim across the river.
The current will push you down.
Now you could walk across it.
I mean, literally it's only to your knees.
(somber music)
Our voices need to be heard.
For a while there we weren't there at the table.
We weren't saying this is what we need it for.
It was always given it to us.
- The Colorado River Compact was signed a hundred years ago.
And when you look at some of those pictures is a group
of white guys that made all the decisions.
Now you fast forward,
and increasingly I think there's a recognition that many,
many voices have been left out of the table.
(somber music)
- You know, one voice is loud, but if we all get together,
our voice will be heard.
(upbeat music)
- [Karyn] Federal investments can really
make generational changes.
If we don't make changes,
we're gonna end up with less water for people,
less water in our streams and continuing
to react to these catastrophic situations.
- You gotta stay proactive with ante,
whether you're doing it for a viable outcome,
are you doing it just to be prepared?
Nobody wants to see that doomsday,
but we're headed in that direction now.
Water is going faster than we ever anticipated.
The snow fall is not happening. The ice pack is not there.
We're not getting that runoff anymore. So yeah.
Now is the time to start acting to be active, proactive,
not reactive when it's too late.
(hopeful music)