Albuquerque vs Vegas, gallon per gallon
Posted on | August 24, 2009 | No Comments
80 … 161 … 107 … 248
A CRITIC of Las Vegas’s conservation efforts last week dared the board of the Southern Nevada Water Authority to match the conservation achieved by Albuquerque before it sought to tap Great Basin Aquifer with its proposed pipeline.
Albuquerque, said the critic, was down to 80 gallons per person per day, compared with Las Vegas’s 250. At the close of the meeting, Southern Nevada Water Authority Board Director Susan Brager was intrigued. “There are some things that I’d like to see us pursue further,” she said. “Are those 80 gallons from people a reality? Does our public really know what they use? … We’ve done a good job [at conservation], I think we can do better.”
The memo is out. Today Scott Huntley, a spokesman for the Southern Nevada Water Authority, was hot on the trail of those numbers, in the course of which he asked Chance of Rain for a clarification. The 80 gallons per day achieved by Albuquerque is for single-family homes. The comparable figure for Las Vegas is 107, he said.
When you include total use by all water users, including businesses and municipal agencies, the Albuquerque figure rises to 161, and the Las Vegas one to 248.
“Albuquerque has done a great job recently bringing down their figures,” said Huntley. “We are proud of our dropping 62 GPCD [gallons per capita per day] since 2002 but you have to tip your hat to their efforts.”
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