New Sources: Tapping Groundwater:

Despite a history of overdraft in Las Vegas itself, Southern Nevada has recently turned its eyes back to the underground as an additional water source – but this time in sparsely populated valleys to the North and Northeast of Clark County (Figure13). The rationale for the SNWA's "Groundwater Development Project" is that groundwater recharge is partly a function of the area over which infiltration occurs, so distributed withdrawals of groundwater from several large valley fill aquifers outside of Las Vegas may be more sustainable than focused withdrawals from only the local aquifer system. Additionally, the targeted aquifers are in sparsely populated areas, with relatively small water demand.

Nonetheless, as you might imagine, there has been strong opposition to the plan from both environmental groups and ranchers and residents of these valleys, especially when considering past examples of annexation of water rights for large cities (e.g., Los Angeles and the Owens Valley) and the negative outcomes for the local communities.

×

Figure 13. Map showing regional groundwater flow systems in Nevada and Utah.
Source: USGS Water Sources of the Basin and Range