How Las Vegas Exists in America's Driest Desert

Select videos courtesy of Getty Images

Select videos courtesy of the AP Archive

Special thanks to MapTiler / OpenStreetMap Contributors and GEOlayers 3

[LittlestOwl.]

I'm really glad you brought this to light, a lot of people like to blame Lake Mead's decline on Las Vegas, but they don't realize that Las Vegas has been recycling their water for years. The reason why Lake Mead's water levels keep going down is because there isn't enough snowfall for the Colorado River along with California's very, very large water consumption for it's farm lands.

[chickencrackers]

Growing up in Las Vegas, I didn't realize most cities didn't have casinos. The first time I realized most cities didn't have casinos was when I asked my parents where the strip was when I traveled to Seattle

[grusha]

The fact that Las Vegas has more tourists than Venice AND has a mini Venice inside of it is just incredible

[Kaiserland]

As a water/wastewater engineer, it makes me very happy to hear of how efficient their water infrastructure is.

[leonardo]

Never thought Las Vegas is actually a rather sustainable city (in terms of water). What a great inspiration for other cities!

[uss_]

Fun fact: One of the least profitable conferences hosted in Las Vegas was the 1986 gathering of the American Physical Society - hardly anyone gambled, presumably, because the physicists understood probability and statistics, and saw no benefit in gambling.
It was an unmitigted disaster for the MGM grand.Financially it was the worst week they ever had.
After the conference was over, the APS was politely asked never to return, not just by the MGM grand, but by the entire city of Las Vegas.

[amehak]

I went to Vegas in 2002. It's changed a lot since.

The first and final men that died building the Hoover dam were father and son.

[Battleborn]

Growing up in Vegas, I used to study other major cities with Encyclopedias. One thing most major cities all have in common is that they rest on a body of water. A river, a lake, or an ocean. However Vegas is probably one of the most populated cities that does not

[jamesdeininger]

This is incredible. Imagine if Southern California could be this sensible with their water resources.

[marcello]

I thought I would see some decaying areas instead I bumped into quite a surprise. I'm very glad to know that Las Vegas is one of the most efficient cities in water recycling. In its specific case I don't know how long it will last, but I hope other cities located in deserts might look at the examples.

[stolenhero]

My great Grandmother moved into Vegas around 1950s. She's seen this city grown from it's eggling phase. She's still alive today, and you can literally ask her which street is connected to which, and even in her very old age, she knows exactly what's where, and how far away it is, and what cardinal direction it is.

[brandocalrissian]

I'm born and raised in Las Vegas, and it's crazy when I was a kid there was less than a million people here, and now going into 2023 there's close to 3 million.

[GeoandHistoryExplained]

I’ve gone to Las Vegas before in the night, and you can literally see Las Vegas pop up. It goes from extremely dark with almost no lights to an enormous amount of light. It was incredible the first time I saw it.

[davidacvs]

The water management is indeed an inspiration.
As a Mexican, I can tell our large northern cities need to look for these solutions, because you know, our north is a desert. Monterrey has a major drought ongoing.

[millysmanifestations]

Vegas is my hometown it will always have a place in my heart even though the summers can reach over 115 degrees f. It’s not only strip and casinos. There are schools, suburbs, communities. My favorite thing to do on the summer nights when the sun sets i love to go to the park and feel the warm winds and lay on the grass. The food is also amazing

[philyoutuber]

Vegas literally is an oasis in the middle of the damn dessert 🙏

[someguy]

Las Vegas has also restricted most decorative water like fountains. The famous fountains at the casino shown in the video use recycled water, and is able to avoid the restrictions because of that fact.

[Nnanasfo]

Las vegas resident here! Grew up here. People are always surprised when I tell them I know what direction I am traveling in by the color of the desert, and the type of mountains. Traveling west towards LA, the desert tends to get a brownish, reddish color. Traveling down to AZ, the desert stay almost reddish. Traveling up towards Reno, the desert is a greyish-brownish mix. It shocks my friends that living in vegas is more "rural" than urban for me lol

And yes! Our water system is amazing. Growing up I definitely took for granted that you truly could just drink water out of *ANYWHERE*. It's always reusable and I definitely thought that was a thing worldwide.

[myriammondesir]

I like the way he emphasizes on every single key word he speaks out to make sure everyone gets the importance of the information he's conveying

[Juany]

I’m local & Thank God that we been having rain like crazy July & August so far