“It’s fair to say that Las Vegas has taken the most dramatic steps to reduce its dependence on Colorado River water,” said Anne Castle, a senior fellow at the Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy and the Environment. Nevada lost 7% of its share of Colorado River water this year as part of cuts announced by Reclamation, but Las Vegas was shielded from the effects thanks to water conservation and reuse. The agency serving the city of 2.4 million, its suburbs and 40 million annual visitors gets 90% of its water from the river and 10% from groundwater. The lion’s share of Las Vegas’ water supply comes from the Colorado River. The Metropolitan Water District said a total ban on outdoor watering in the affected areas could follow in September if the restrictions don’t work. Still, Southern California’s behemoth water supplier last month ordered about 6 million people to cut their outdoor watering to once a week due to record dry conditions. “Los Angeles is less vulnerable,” Gleick said, “because they do have this very broad, diverse set of options.” It also uses some groundwater and recycled water. Its water sources include the Sierra Nevada mountains in Northern California, the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and the Colorado River in the east. Los Angeles imports the bulk of its water through a vast storage and delivery system. “This is sort of the perennial story of the West.” “It really has to do with the modern engineering marvels of the 20th and 21st centuries,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles. That’s due to spending billions of dollars over decades on infrastructure aimed at withstanding a future with less reliable water sources. While the river remains the lifeblood of the region, many cities have other water sources. Overuse of the river, hotter temperatures, less melting snow in the spring, and evaporation have greatly reduced water flows in the river - by 20% on average since 2000.Īgriculture remains the single-largest consumer, using 70% of available water in the Colorado River basin, according to the Bureau of Reclamation. Georgia county files suit to force land sale for spaceport “All of the cities in the West have made progress.”īut with less water flowing into the Colorado River, which serves 40 million people in the West and northern Mexico, experts say the measures taken by cities will still not be enough long-term. “That’s a huge success throughout the West,” Gleick said. He calls the reduction in per capita water use a “remarkable story” and one that’s not widely acknowledged. Peter Gleick, president emeritus of the Pacific Institute, has studied water resources for decades. Over the past three decades, major Western cities - particularly in California and Nevada - have diversified their water sources, boosted local supplies through infrastructure investments and conservation, and use water more efficiently. Western water experts, however, say they aren’t necessarily cause for concern. Time would be around 5 hours, 32 minutes.As drought and climate change tighten their grip on the American West, the sight of fountains, swimming pools, gardens and golf courses in cities like Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Boise, and Albuquerque can be jarring at first glance. In a rush, you can do the trip with zero stops, and your total travel Rest stop breaks, and interesting detours along the way. Long road trip, make sure you factor in traffic and road conditions, Include local roads to get into each town, so if you're planning a If you drive straight through without stopping at all, Nonstop driving from Los Angeles to Phoenix This is about 4 hours east of Los Angeles, or about 1½ hours west of Phoenix. Three fourths of the way, you can stop at New Hope, AZ. This is about 3½ hours east of Los Angeles, or about 2 hours west of Phoenix. Two thirds of the way, you can stop at Morgantown, AZ. This is almost 2 hours east of Los Angeles. This is about 1½ hours east of Los Angeles.Ī third of the way, you can stop at Indio, CA. ½ or halfway between Los Angeles and Phoenix, you can try Desert Center, CA, which is about 2½ hours east of Los Angeles, or about 3 hours west of Phoenix.Īnother possible place to stop near the midpoint is Lake Tamarisk.Ī fourth of the way, you can stop at Cathedral City, CA. Looking for a meeting place or a good stop around Los Angeles to Phoenix midpoint and places to stop along the way
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