Coachella Valley won’t last, officials warn; residents must do more to conserve

From MyDesert.com:

While nearly 43 percent of the continental United States experiences severe drought, the Coachella Valley has a crutch on which it has long leaned.

“Las Vegas and other areas decided to take water use seriously because they’re in a lot worse shape than we are,” said former Palm Desert Mayor Buford Crites. “They don’t have an underground aquifer under them.” That massive aquifer beneath most of the valley allows officials to worry less about whether the sprinklers will run dry during this drought despite 124 lush golf courses, hundreds of hotels and restaurants and dozens of farms that thrive on the water.

But that’s changing.

Officials are realizing the valley needs to do more to conserve water, replenish the aquifer and keep fast-growing, water-thirsty cities such as Las Vegas and Los Angeles off their backs. “Nevada doesn’t have rights to a lot of water, but they’ve got a lot of money. And they’re out there actively pursuing water,” said Steve Robbins, general manager of the Coachella Valley Water District. “They’re just buying it. It’s going to force us to be efficient with the water. If the value of something goes really high, you can’t be in the position where you’re just wasting it.”

To read the full text of the story from MyDesert.com, click here.

Picture of Palm Springs golf course by flickr photographer Erik Jaeger.

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