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Now do the Bellagio fountains that evaporate 12 million gallons of ground water every year. I can't imagine that's being replenished at a sustainable rate.

tekla 4y ago
https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1180&context=glj https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=11... According to this, the fountains uses negligible amounts of water versus the population + visitors. > Resort hotels’ water use accounts for only seven percent of the water supplied in Las Vegas.187 The average guest at a resort hotel uses sixty-three gallons of water per day. In comparison, the amount of water used by a Las Vegas resident is nearly double that amount.
thaeli 4y ago
The lake which the Bellagio fountains are part of is filled from a private well on the property. It does not pull from the mountain aquifers or from Lake Mead, but from a shallow and rather polluted aquifer underneath the Strip. That aquifer is primarily replenished from ground infiltration; Vegas does get rain, just not a lot of it, and there is still some irrigation which filters into the shallow aquifer. Because it's irrigation and turf runoff, and so shallow that there hasn't been sufficient filtering by soil layers, this aquifer is "salty" (various salts, not just NaCl) and not potable water. It is trapped by clay layers in the soil and does not refill the deeper aquifers or Lake Mead. So they are using that lower-quality groundwater for nonpotable use in the Bellagio lake and fountains. The shallow aquifer is replenished at a sustainable rate, it's just not the high-quality mountain water in the deep aquifer. In fact, replenishment of the shallow aquifer has INCREASED with development - ironically for a desert, the water table would be high enough in parts of Las Vegas to require sump pumps if it wasn't for the shallow-aquifer wells that feed the fountains and golf courses. There is a very limited number, accounted for in existing water rights, of these intensive nonpotable water uses that the Las Vegas Valley can support, but those few play an important role in the overall water cycle.
EricE 4y ago
Steve Wynn bought the Dunes to build the Bellagio because it had a natural artesian well (and associated water rights). There was a 9 hole golf course that got taken out with the demo of the Dunes. Fountains use a LOT less water than golf courses!

tekla 4y ago

https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1180&context=glj https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=11... According to this, the fountains uses negligible amounts of water versus the population + visitors. > Resort hotels’ water use accounts for only seven percent of the water supplied in Las Vegas.187 The average guest at a resort hotel uses sixty-three gallons of water per day. In comparison, the amount of water used by a Las Vegas resident is nearly double that amount.

thaeli 4y ago

The lake which the Bellagio fountains are part of is filled from a private well on the property. It does not pull from the mountain aquifers or from Lake Mead, but from a shallow and rather polluted aquifer underneath the Strip. That aquifer is primarily replenished from ground infiltration; Vegas does get rain, just not a lot of it, and there is still some irrigation which filters into the shallow aquifer. Because it's irrigation and turf runoff, and so shallow that there hasn't been sufficient filtering by soil layers, this aquifer is "salty" (various salts, not just NaCl) and not potable water. It is trapped by clay layers in the soil and does not refill the deeper aquifers or Lake Mead. So they are using that lower-quality groundwater for nonpotable use in the Bellagio lake and fountains. The shallow aquifer is replenished at a sustainable rate, it's just not the high-quality mountain water in the deep aquifer. In fact, replenishment of the shallow aquifer has INCREASED with development - ironically for a desert, the water table would be high enough in parts of Las Vegas to require sump pumps if it wasn't for the shallow-aquifer wells that feed the fountains and golf courses. There is a very limited number, accounted for in existing water rights, of these intensive nonpotable water uses that the Las Vegas Valley can support, but those few play an important role in the overall water cycle.

EricE 4y ago

Steve Wynn bought the Dunes to build the Bellagio because it had a natural artesian well (and associated water rights). There was a 9 hole golf course that got taken out with the demo of the Dunes. Fountains use a LOT less water than golf courses!