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A Total Water Management Analysis of the Las Vegas Wash Watershed, Nevada
Citation:
Ranatunga, T., S. Tong, Y. Sun, AND J. Yang. A Total Water Management Analysis of the Las Vegas Wash Watershed, Nevada. Physical Geography. Taylor & Francis Group, London, Uk, 35(3):220-244, (2014).
Impact/Purpose:
This journal article is to inform scientific community of EPA's most recent research activities adn data on sustainable water resource development under climate and land use changes
Description:
Climate change, land use change, and population growth are fundamental factors affecting future hydrologic conditions in streams, especially in arid regions with scarce water resources. Located in the arid southwest, Las Vegas Valley located within the Las Vegas Wash watershed is one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas of the country. In the past 30 years, because of climate and land use changes, it has experienced a decrease in clean water supply but an increase in water demand. To alleviate some of these problems, large amounts of water has been pumped into the watershed from different sources, such as Lake Mead, and the urban wastewater is treated and returned back to the reservoir for water augmentation. However, in the face of continued global change and urbanization in the watershed, long term planning for sustainable water management is critical. This research intends to provide a comprehensive analysis incorporating hydrologic modeling, population projection, land use change modeling, and water management policies to examine the total water balance and management options in this arid urbanized Watershed under various scenarios of climate regime, population growth, land use change, and total water management programs for the year 2050.
