Phoenix last year went nearly four straight months without seeing high temperatures dip into the double digits. Things weren’t that much more comfortable in the fall, either. So, we’re asking some questions about the role of shade in making the region cooler.
There are a number of ways to provide shade — from planting trees to planning buildings and other structures. And, we’re talking about this as part of an ongoing series we’re calling "Throwing Shade."
Today, trees are the topic of conversation — specifically, the debate over how much water is too much water to use in an effort to keep old trees alive. Lawmakers in Nevada this year debated a bill that would have authorized the legislature to evaluate and review excessive water use fees and other water conservation efforts that impact turf and tree canopy. Despite winning the unanimous approval of one chamber, the measure ran up against a legislative deadline and will not be moving forward; the Southern Nevada Water Authority argued these kinds of fees are necessary and have saved a lot of water in and around Las Vegas.
Jeniffer Solis, a reporter for The Nevada Current, has written about this and joined The Show to discuss the current policy in Nevada, in terms of homeowners who use more water, and the fact that they right now have to pay more.
Full conversation
JENIFFER SOLIS: About two years ago, the Las Vegas Valley Water District implemented a new water rate structure that basically imposes higher fees on the valley's biggest residential water users, and that's strictly confined to Clark County, which is a county that's been in drought for for two decades.
MARK BRODIE: And what was the thinking behind doing that? Like, was the goal to try to bring down the amount of water being used?
SOLIS: Yeah, so at some point, the Southern Nevada Water Authority figured out that Las Vegas is going to have to lower its water usage per household in order to keep growing. So the thought when implementing these higher fees for bigger residential water users was that we could bring the rate of water use down to a level that would allow Las Vegas to continue growing despite its two decades of drought.
BRODIE: I mean, Las Vegas continues to grow. I would imagine it's safe to say, but has the rate of water use gone down?
SOLIS: Yes, the new water rate levies were really successful at getting these larger residential water users to bring down their water consumption. It was only supposed to affect the top 10% of excessive water users, but it's actually only impacted about 6% because so many people have that they don't want to pay those heavier fees and have themselves chosen to lower their water use. Of course, it's because it's costing them a lot more than it used to.
BRODIE: Yeah. Well, so then, given that, why was there an effort in the Nevada Legislature this year to at least start to rethink that or maybe undo it?
SOLIS: Yeah, so there has been a lot of controversy actually around this excessive water-use levies, not for the majority of people in the valley, but for those higher water users that have been forced to pay these excessive water use fees or let their mature trees and yards die from lack of water. So there's been a lot of pushback since its implementation to get it reversed so people don't have to pay these higher fees because it really is hitting people's pockets.
BRODIE: Well, it sounds like based on your reporting, it's also hurting their landscaping and you know, mature as you mentioned, you know, mature mature trees and landscapes, like trees that provide shade and maybe bring the temperature down a little bit.
SOLIS: Definitely, in Las Vegas, the temperature gets to such a high rate that a lot of trees can't withstand it without the water that they need to survive. So the new rate fees have caused people to stop watering their lawns and trees, which have caused a lot of mature landscaping to die.
So older neighborhoods in Las Vegas that were built before there was even that drought in Las Vegas, have these really large lots, you know, with lots of grass, mature trees, oaks, stuff that doesn't necessarily survive very well in the desert, especially in drought. So, when people were forced to lower their water consumption, they were also forced to sort of let their mature landscaping, their trees, grass wither away, which has been really controversial for for many neighborhoods, because in a lot of these older Las Vegas neighborhoods where these mature trees and landscapings are located, they don't necessarily have parks, so they don't necessarily have other landscaping that helps bring down the temperature.
You know, there's plenty of studies that show that trees and grass do lower the air temperature in areas nearby, and these neighborhoods that are older and lack parks and and other public infrastructure that helps cool down the air with trees and grass, kind of depend on these trees and grass that are in these in these private lots.
BRODIE: What are environmentalists, what are policymakers saying about what seems like a real environmental catch-22 here, right? Like you want to conserve water and use less of it, but by doing so you're potentially stopping doing something that can help make things cooler. Like you have seemingly two competing environmental goals here.
SOLIS: It really is a catch-22. In other neighborhoods, Las Vegas is focusing on planting more drought resistant trees, and more drought resistant landscaping that still does some things to lower the air temperature, but not the same as these larger water intensive oak trees and lawns, right?
So, there is a real balance here between maintaining canopy and turf, and doing everything we can to conserve water because we are a city that depends largely on the Colorado River, which is dwindling because of overall drought in the West.
BRODIE: Well, so even though this effort isn't gonna move forward this year, would you say that it's safe to say that this will continue to be a topic of discussion in Nevada going forward?
SOLIS: This will definitely continue to be a topic of discussion moving forward, even in other states, you know, other states are considering similar propositions to this one in southern Nevada that has these excessive use fees. And in other states, you know, people are pushing back because they have some idea of what it would mean, seeing how it's been implemented in Nevada.
