See the gurgling, tiled object with its pretty sprays of water and soothing trickle lined with spare change in the Boca Park shopping center? That's a fountain. We haven't seen many of its species in the last year, what with the tightened water restrictions and drought-observing measures—unless you've been hanging out on the Strip, of course. But this little bubbler's still chugging along, and so are a few more at the Grand Canyon Shopping Center at Flamingo Road and Grand Canyon Drive, and the Wellington Apartments at Sahara Avenue and Fort Apache Road. And not everyone's happy about that.
Last week, Vince Alberta, spokesman for the Southern Nevada Water Authority and the Las Vegas Valley Water District, told the Review-Journal, "It certainly violates the spirit of what we were trying to accomplish."
The, ahem, spirit of what they're trying to accomplish? The fountains, owned by Triple Five Nevada Development Corp., have been working for months because of the creativity and well-lined pockets of their owners who are procuring their water from Canada, Utah, Washington and other areas that don't draw from the Colorado River basin. Rather than violating the spirit of the restrictions, they're celebrating them, it seems, by not draining the lake one bit, rather spending thousands of dollars a month (they reportedly spent just over $12,000 in March—before the evaporating heat of summer—to fill seven fountains) in order to comply with restrictions. And the water authority's concerned that, what? People will see these fountains running, with the signs in front of them that explicitly say this water is imported from elsewhere, and they'll think they can water their lawn at 3 in the afternoon? That they can wash their car with a nonrestrictive hose?
Tracy Bower, public information officer for the Southern Nevada Water Authority is less committal in her observations. "There are restrictions on fountains. I think that they found a creative way around the ordinance. But I think it's a very expensive solution."
But does the water authority frown on it?
"Again, I think it's very creative. I think the community's done a great job in general at conserving water, that's what the fountain ordinance was meant to do, was to help the community conserve during the drought. "
But does it violate the spirit of what the water authority's trying to accomplish?
"Again, I think it's a creative way. I think there are probably more cost-effective ways to accomplish the same thing."
It's a good point. Not that our sparkling city's ever been overly conscious of cost-effectiveness. That said, maybe these folks are really onto something. It's not as though importing water's that far-fetched. A case could be made for the fact that, were our tap water slightly more appealing to the palate, our drought would be at least a little bit worse than it is today. But many people choose not to drink or even cook with water that drips through their faucets, shelling out near-gasoline-level money to buy bottled water to enjoy.
Then again, they are importing it for fountains. If this development company's willing to take such steps, you'd think that others may be willing to step in by the time the drought gets so bad that we're drinking the blood of our brothers and licking the sides of Hoover Dam. By that time, don't you think that other creative options will sprout from casinos and other development companies that are watching their cash cows wither and breathe dust? They could take it a step further and not just import water—import everything and cut down on water necessary for development: double-wides from Canada, environmentalists from California, cranberry juice. Water bottling companies could replace HOAs, sponsoring communities like Dasani Springs, or Aquafina Palisades. They could erect a giant lake cover to stop evaporation. Or just ask each tourist to bring a gallon to pour into Lake Mead for all to share. Creative solutions are everywhere. Though sometimes, like our tap water, they're rather hard to swallow.