Fifty percent chance Las Vegas will have no water by 2021

In a city that was born to gamble, the odds are not looking good for Las Vegas, water supplies, in fact, if the giant casinos and other users in the famous desert city do not drastically reduce their water usage, just 13 years from now, Las Vegas, may be as dry as the desert that surrounds it.

Las Vegas, as always, in under threat as growth has been at such an incredible rate, it has always been difficult for the city to even bring in enough water from its supply at Lake Mead, but now because of dwindling rainfall and increased usage, the lake’s water level continues to fall.

A study by researchers from the University of California San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, states that the odds are 10% that the lake will be dry in just six years, but if that sounds like long odds, the odds are far shorter at 50-50, that by 2021, Lake Mead will have returned to the desert.

One of the authors of the report Tim Barnett says “Our reaction was frankly one of being stunned,” and, “We had not expected the problem to be so severe and so up close to us in time.”

Man-made and natural climate change, low rainfall and increased evaporation, combined with ever-growing demand, are causing the lakes water level to drop continuously, Barnett added, “The biggest change right now is taking more water from the bucket than we are putting into it,”

He did have one little piece of good news stating that over the last few months the Colorado River’s flow level had increased slightly, after many years of way below average levels.

The western states of America have been suffering long years of drought, this poses a very serious threat to some big American cities, not only Las Vegas is served by the Colorado and Lake Mead, large parts of California, northern Mexico and Arizona also take their water from the source.

The building of the Hoover Dam, 80 years ago, created the lake, which currently supplies 90% of Las Vegas’ water needs, at the moment the lake is only 50% full.

The Southern Nevada water authority says that it is seeking alternative water sources to supply city of Las Vegas with some of its water needs.

Las Vegas casinos and hotels are not the only big consumers of water in the area, 80% of the water from the Colorado River is used in agriculture, therefore, savings will also need to be made by farmers as well as gamblers.