- [Narrator] Shrinking reservoirs, depleted aquifers,
drying rivers.
These images reveal the scale of the mega drought
sweeping the American West.
It's the worst drought the region has seen
in at least 1,200 years.
With more pressure on water supplies,
one desert city offers a promising conservation model.
- You fly into Vegas,
you see the Bellagio Fountains,
and you see the golf courses,
and it looks like a land of absolute waste.
I've discovered that, actually, Southern Nevada
is one of the most water-minded places on Earth.
- [Narrator] Since 2002,
Southern Nevada has cut its Colorado River water use by 26%
while also adding 750,000 people to its population.
Still, severe drought conditions are forcing the region
to find even more ways to reduce its consumption.
With the Colorado River Basin at a dangerous tipping point,
here's how Las Vegas offers a roadmap
to making the most out of every drop of water.
In June, the federal government
ordered unprecedented water cutbacks asking Western states
to reduce their water use by as much as 30%
to save the Colorado River system.
- The Colorado River really is the lifeblood
of the American Southwest.
It runs for over 1,400 miles.
And along the way, it provides water for 40 million people.
- [Narrator] As one of the thirstiest cities
in the nation's driest state,
Las Vegas leaders realized they couldn't afford
to gamble on water.
On average, Nevada receives less than 10 inches
of rainfall a year.
It also gets the smallest amount of water
from the Colorado River.
- The Colorado River was divided up
about a hundred years ago
under the 1922 Colorado River Compact
where you had seven states that were all negotiating
for how much water each state would be allocated
from the river system.
At that time, with the population that we had,
with the lack of potential for agriculture
here in our community sort of made sense
that perhaps Nevada did only get a small amount.
- [Narrator] Decades later, scientists discovered
the compact severely overestimated
how much water flows down the Colorado River each year.
This over-allocation of water
combined with warming temperatures
and record-breaking drought
has the river system on the verge of collapse.
At the same time, the constant pressure
on Las Vegas' water supply has helped transform the region
into a leader in conservation.
(upbeat music)
The Bellagio Water Fountain on the Las Vegas Strip
is one of the city's most iconic and noticeable symbols
of excess water use.
The 8.5 acre man-made lake
holds more than 22 million gallons of water,
but nearly all of it is recycled.
- The thing that most people don't know
is that the Bellagio Fountain doesn't use
any of our community's water supply.
There is no Colorado River water that is used
for that fountain.
It is fed by a private well that pulls groundwater
and is owned by the hotel.
- [Narrator] Still, the recycling system isn't perfect.
The fountain could lose millions of gallons annually
to evaporation.
An MGM resort spokesperson said they were committed
to using water responsibly across the company
and supply chain.
- The Las Vegas Strip obviously is the backbone
of our community, but what's really interesting
is that it only uses about 5%
of our community's total water supply.
Residents who live here use 60%
of our community's total water supply.
So I don't know any other community
that makes a very small investment of its water supply
to get such great economic returns.
- [Narrator] The Bellagio Fountain
represents just a fraction
of the region's water recycling efforts.
Nearly every drop of water used indoors
throughout Southern Nevada is treated, recycled,
and returned in near-drinkable quality to Lake Mead
according to the Clark County Water Reclamation District.
In 2021, this accounted for about 50%
of the region's total water consumption.
- So the amount of water that the Las Vegas Valley recycles
is absolutely unprecedented in the Western United States.
- [Narrator] Dan Fischer works at the largest
water recycling plant on the Colorado River Basin.
- For every gallon of water that we return,
we can take another gallon of water out.
Without our ability to recycle our water
and safely return it to the lake and reuse it
because we treat it so effectively, without those things,
Las Vegas wouldn't be what it is.
- [Narrator] To keep up with rapid population growth,
the region's water recycling facilities
are nearly always under construction.
- The wastewater treatment plants cannot get behind.
That is just not an option.
We have to stay ahead of it.
We have to keep building more and more facilities
in order to be able to take that water
and effectively treat it
- [Narrator] Another way Las Vegas
is able to cut back on its water
is by removing one of its biggest water guzzlers, grass.
- When you consider that grass consumes 73 gallons
per square foot to survive in the Mojave Desert,
you know, that's a column of water that is 10 feet tall
for every square foot of grass.
- [Narrator] In 1999, the Southern Nevada Water Authority
started its cash for grass program,
which currently pays homeowners $3 for each square foot
of grass that's replaced
with water-efficient desert landscaping.
The region has removed
about 207 million square feet of grass
as a result of this policy.
- No place, really, in the American West
has been better than Las Vegas at getting rid of grass.
It's spread to the rest of the West.
Phoenix is doing this.
Los Angeles now has kind of a war on grass,
but Las Vegas really is the pioneer.
- [Narrator] More recently, a new law in Southern Nevada,
the first of its kind in the nation,
bans non-functional grass.
That's the grass in medians and roadways
that is only planted for decorative purposes.
Ecologists say grass lawns can also be bad
for desert ecosystems not meant to sustain
water-intensive plants.
- As of today, there are approximately 3,000 acres
of non-functional grass.
Replacing that grass will save about 10%
of our community's overall water supply.
- [Narrator] Rigorous conservation efforts
don't just outlaw grass, but also dictate when residents
can water their yards or wash their cars.
Water investigators like this one patrol neighborhoods
to cite people who violate rules.
- We leave a courtesy door hanger with a watering guide
letting them know, "Hey you're not allowed to water today."
- I think it's important to note
that Southern Nevada did not place conservation
on one sector.
We did not just require it of the resorts
down on the Las Vegas Strip.
We did not just require it of residents.
We placed conservation on the backs of every single sector
in our community.
- [Narrator] As the drought across the American West
worsens, reservoirs across the region
are reaching critical levels.
This summer, the country's largest reservoir, Lake Mead,
fell to a record low.
- You see the pictures of Lake Mead,
you see the 200 feet of air where there used to be water
for over the entire lake.
Unless the drought subsides,
we could get to a point where Lake Mead cannot deliver
any water out of Hoover Dam.
That's a real possibility and that's a terrifying thought.
- [Narrator] The federal government
says the seven Colorado River Basin states
still need to make more water cutbacks.
- And the Feds basically said,
if you don't do it voluntarily,
we reserve the right to make you,
we'll decide for you.
- [Narrator] All the basin states
said they recognized their shared role
in bringing the river system into balance.
More recently, California, the region's largest water user
promised to reduce the state's use of Colorado River water
by 400,000 acre feet every year for the next three years.
Even as a leader in water conservation,
the Southern Nevada Water Authority
says Las Vegas is finding more ways to cut back.
- It takes all sectors of your community
in order to contribute to water conservation
and be successful.
And it's going to be the same thing on the Colorado River.
It is going to take every water user across every sector
to be contributing to the efforts
to reduce those water demands,
so that we can bring this system back into balance.
(gentle music)