There is a grave water crisis facing Nevada, but it’s not the one getting all the press. Hidden underground, aquifers are being rapidly depleted, causing untold impacts to natural and human communities. In my capacity as executive director of the Amargosa Conservancy, a Nevada and California nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving the Amargosa River, I have a front-row seat to this brewing calamity.
While Southern Nevada existentially depends on the Colorado River for commercial and residential water, many communities in rural Nevada are entirely dependent on groundwater for their survival. Though Nevada remains the driest state in the union, the Great Basin and Mojave deserts contain vast groundwater aquifers that make human habitation possible. These aquifers are reservoirs spanning hundreds of miles and contain water that fell as precipitation thousands of years ago when Nevada’s climate was far wetter.
Groundwater systems by their very nature exist out of sight. Impacts to these systems are difficult to detect and anticipate, and managing groundwater relies on rapidly evolving hydrological research and modeling of complex underground systems. The “canaries in the coal mine” for these aquifers are natural springs where groundwater is expressed on the surface supporting lush vegetation and wildlife. Springs are bellwethers that indicate whether the aquifer has a sustainable balance of extraction and recharge.
Unfortunately, many springs in Nevada show signs of imbalance. A trifecta of factors including elevated average annual temperatures, decreasing annual precipitation and increased development pressure have led groundwater to be extracted at a rate that far outpaces the rate of recharge. Researchers have documented a steady decline in flow rates of several springs, shrinking from over 100 gallons a minute a century ago to no measurable flow today.
Evidence suggests that diminishing flow is likely a delayed consequence of the rampant overpumping of groundwater that occurred in the Pahrump Valley during the 1950s and 1960s. The delayed consequences of actions taken a half-century ago demonstrates the complexity of managing subsurface water and begs the question of what unknown future impacts are already in motion based on our management of groundwater today and in the recent past.
Diminished groundwater has a significant impact on human health, well-being and prosperity.
Domestic wells in the Amargosa Basin that have been productive for decades are drying up, forcing residents to assume the expense of redrilling or relocating wells. Additionally, the scenic and recreational values of many spring complexes such as those found in the Amargosa Basin sustain a robust ecotourism economy and a steady stream of visitors to the region. Simply put, water is life for these communities.
Desert springs also support the highest rate of biodiversity in North America, meaning they are home to a staggering number of species of plants, amphibians, fish, mammals and invertebrates that live nowhere else on the planet. Each spring supports a unique assemblage of vegetation formed over centuries. Once altered, specific habitats with aspecific collection of flora and fauna are all but impossible to restore. Desert springs are fingerprints of an ancient and changing world with no two exactly alike, making them not only crucial subjects of research but also treasures of our collective global inheritance.
While we cannot undo all of the damage that has been done in the past, there is much we can do now to prevent further destruction of our desert springs. A policy action that should be explored is the development of bi-state water compacts to effectively manage resources on an ecoregional scale.
Water management in the West cannot be purely relegated to the state level. Western states need to pursue equitable and scientifically informed water management compacts to ensure that use in one locale does not come at the direct expense of resources elsewhere. Compacts such as what has been developed for Northern Nevada’s Truckee River are examples of what should be pursued for the Amargosa Basin and other watersheds. Such compacts will take considerable investments of time, resources and creativity, but they are the only sensible solutions to problems inherent within our fractured water management system.
As climate change and development pressures push the Great Basin and Mojave deserts into a new normal condition of water scarcity, it is paramount that Nevadans demand strict scrutiny of our groundwater management policies. The future of these human communities and the exceptional biodiversity of the surrounding landscapes are inextricably tethered to our state’s ability to manage groundwater sustainably now. Though unfolding out of sight and at a slower pace, the groundwater crisis in Nevada looms just as large and demands just as much of a public response as the Colorado River crisis.
Mason Voehl is executive director of the Amargosa Conservancy, a nonprofit organization working toward a sustainable future for the Amargosa Basin, which lies between Las Vegas and Death Valley.