Once Was Water

Water Conservation in Las Vegas

Welcome to Las Vegas!

Las Vegas, Nevada, a city in the Mojave Desert gets almost no rainfall, yet may be the most water-conserving city in the world, and a city that constantly re-invents itself. What’s not to like. Every drop of indoor water is cleansed and recycled into the city’s water system. How’s that for a start?

A model city

Las Vegas, the driest city in America, leads the United States in sustainable water conservation. The efforts of Las Vegas and the resorts, in their search for sustainability, have produced promising solutions–technological, political, and financial–providing an on-going global model for any city creating their own sustainable water system.

55 min.

Running Time

Las Vegas, USA

Location

2019

Year

English

Language

The dry West

Everything to do with Las Vegas’s water supply and disposal is watched, measured and checked. 40% of the water is recycled for indoor use. Every drop is monitored acoustically to detect possible leaks within 6,500 miles of pipes.

In addition to a complex and visionary system of recycling wastewater, Southern Nevada’s conservation efforts have generated a keen public awareness, and spawned hands-on programs in the public schools to teach about food-growing and water use in the desert.

* Picture of ghost city St Thomas at the bottom of drought-ridden Lake Mead.

Where to find the movie

Directed by Christopher Beaver
Produced by Diana Fuller
Executive Producers: Regina Scully, Nion McEvoy, Owsley Brown, Patrice & Lisa Gautier MatterofTrust.org
Original Music: Jacob Bloomfield-Misrach
Editors: Christopher Beaver, Maureen Gosling
Camera: Christopher Beaver
Sound Design & Mix: Jim McKee
A Trash 24 Production

Purchase the DVD at Bullfrog Communities