Good News: Nevada Drought Conditions Improving

It’s nice to hear some good news nowadays, and we have some here in Nevada: the recent wet winter has improved drought conditions in our state. Unfortunately, Clark County, Nye County, and Lincoln County are still considered to be under “extreme drought conditions.”

According to an article written by Jarah Wright on KTNV.com, the heavy rain and snow throughout the southwest United States during the recent winter has led to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to remove the “extreme” and “exceptional” drought condition warnings for the state of California. And there’s more good news about Nevada in Wright’s article: “less than 10% of the state is now in extreme drought conditions.” The bad news: we live in a part of the state that is still under extreme drought conditions.

Per Wright’s article and the experts she interviewed in the fields of climatology and hydrology, it could take up to a year for the snow pack water and rain water from the past winter to reach Lake Mead and Lake Powell. We are still going to have to find ways to conserve water.

However, Nevada is not the only state who consumes water from the Colorado River, which feeds Lake Mead and Lake Powell. California is by far the largest consumer of water in our region of the U.S.A. Agricultural needs in the Golden State appear to be the main culprit for a great deal of that water consumption.

Per Wright’s report, officials here in the Las Vegas Valley are discussing ways to continue to use less water and help alleviate these extreme drought conditions. They are considering rules which might affect watering of golf courses, restaurant wait staff offering water with meals, and putting a limit on residents who they think are using too much water.

The KTNV.com web post also reports that the Southern Nevada Water Authority has received a federal grant to pursue “cloud seeding” in Western U.S. “states whose rivers feed into the valley.” It would be quite an achievement if they can actually get that process to work well enough to alleviate the drought.

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Larry Martino is the long-time Afternoon Drive personality on 96.3 KKLZ. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of Larry Martino and not necessarily those of Beasley Media Group, LLC.

Carla Rea's Fun On Lake Mead

I’ve had so much fun at, and on Lake Mead over the years – as you can see in the pictures. But it’s scary what is happening to our lake.

As of last weekend, the depth of Lake Mead is about 1045 feet above sea level, it has lost another 6 feet of water in just one month, and is now at 29% capacity.

The six foot drop in just one month is a lot, but there are a lot of reasons beyond over usage: The Bureau of Reclamation has held back water from Lake Powell to allow power to be generated at the Glen Canyon Dam is one reason, the severe prolonged drought and evaporation are also taking a toll.

If the level continues to fall a water shortage will be declared for 2023. This would mean a reduction in the water allocated to us here in the Vegas valley. Last year we used 242,000 acre feet of water with an allocation of 300,000 acre feet. FYI: An acre foot of water is what two average households use per year.

I know firsthand how low the lake is. How? I had to pay for a prop on a boat rental because I got too close to a rock – that was about 50 feet from the shore!

Have fun on the lake, but be careful out there!