The Indicator Brief is a publication of the Clark County Monitoring
Program. The Monitoring Program was developed to provide a foundation
for on-going policy discussions and a baseline from which economic, fiscal
or social changes could be monitored over time.
As a briefing document, the Indicator Brief is not intended to be
comprehensive. Rather, this summary is intended to highlight the salient
findings of the research conducted during the second quarter of 2008. It is
subdivided into the program's five core study areas:
economic,
fiscal,
public health and safety,
environmental and
demographic. |
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Summary Overview: Environmental
At the recent National Clean Energy Summit held at UNLV in August this year,
Nevada Senators asked the federal government to take the lead in "this
[nationwide] energy drama." A couple of months later, Governor Jim Gibbons
reinforced the idea of furthering Nevada's efforts towards achieving energy
independence by strengthening the state's working relationship with federal
officials during his August visit to Washington D.C. "With the federal
government's majority ownership of Nevada, it's critical that we work together
to develop these resources", he said. The statement ties well to his executive
order released in June this year to create a second phase of his Renewable
Energy Transmission Access Advisory Committee that will further the committee's
first efforts of identifying transmission corridors necessary for renewable
energy development in Nevada. Clark County and the State of Nevada have been at
the forefront of clean energy production in the nation. Nevada is the
second-largest producer of geothermal energy after California. On the supply
side management (SSM), the state pursues a rigorous Renewable Portfolio
Standard, with a target of producing 20 percent of its energy through renewable
resources by 2015.
On the Yucca Mountain nuclear repository front, the Department of Energy
submitted a proposal to the Nevada Bureau of Land Management to extend their
withdrawal of 4,255 acres of public land for the Yucca Mountain project for an
additional 12 years to 2022. The public lands are withdrawn from leasing under
the mineral leasing laws in order to maintain the physical integrity of the
subsurface environment at Yucca Mountain. Site characterization activities will
be used to determine the suitability of Yucca Mountain for a permanent nuclear
waste repository. These lands were initially withdrawn in 1990 by Public Land
Order 6802 for 12 years. A second withdrawal for an additional eight years was
granted by Public Land Order 7534 in 2002. That withdrawal will expire in 2010.
The Groundwater Development Project undertaken by the Southern Nevada Water
Authority (SNWA) to develop and convey up to 200,000 acre-feet per year of
groundwater from six hydrographic basins in northern Clark, central Lincoln and
eastern White Pine Counties continues to progress. This progress includes the
preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement by the Bureau of Land
Management for the project. In addition, the Nevada State Engineer will conduct
an administrative hearing on the SNWA's applications for un-appropriated
groundwater in Snake Valley in 2009.
SNWA's largest water conservation program, Water Smart Landscapes (WSL) provides
financial incentives to convert turf grass to water efficient landscaping. As of
the end of September, WSL had facilitated conversion of more than 117.4 million
square feet of turf, translating into more than 6.5 billion gallons per year in
savings, since the program's inception. To date the program has provided over
$122 million for 32,996 projects in the area. Due to the aggressive efforts of
SNWA and other local water agencies in the region to conserve water, southern
Nevada reduced its consumptive water use by nearly 15 billion gallons between
2002 and 2007, despite the addition of 400,000 new residents and nearly 40
million annual visitors in 2007. These conservation efforts continue, as the
SNWA currently plans to achieve a conservation goal of 250 gallons per capita
per day (GPCD) by 2010, and 245 GPCD by 2035. Progress toward this goal is
estimated annually. The SNWA reported GPCD for 2007 is 255 gallons.
A look at the 2006 water consumption patterns in the valley shows that the
residential sector was responsible for 59 percent of all water consumption in
the Valley, 44 percent by single-family residences and 15 percent by
multi-family residences.
Presently, southern Nevada gets nearly 90 percent of its water from the Colorado
River, and only 10 percent from groundwater. Currently, about 40 percent of the
annual water usage in the Las Vegas Valley is reclaimed and either reused at the
golf courses or returned to Lake Mead for return flow credits, and about 60
percent is used consumptively for outside irrigation, evaporative losses from
pools and artificial lakes, distribution system losses, etc.
According to the Bureau of Reclamation, Lake Mead elevation at the end of
September 2008 was about 1106 feet above sea level, 5 feet lower than in
September 2007.
Clark County Department of Air Quality monitors key pollutants at 18 sites
across Clark County, 14 of which are located in the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area.
Monitored pollutants include particulate matter of 10 microns and 2.5 microns
size (PM-10, and PM 2.5). Ozone, which is a photochemical oxidant and the main
component of smog at the ground level is also measured along with carbon
monoxide. Each pollutant is measured using the Air Quality Index, with an AQI
rating of 100 corresponding to the concentration of the federal standard for
that pollutant. Finally, for ease of monitoring, all AQI values are normalized
over a five-point scale of "good," "moderate," "unhealthy for sensitive groups,"
"unhealthy", "very unhealthy" and "hazardous." In the last quarter, ozone
concentrations reached the "unhealthy for sensitive groups" range for four days
in July and four days in August. PM-10 reached the "unhealthy for sensitive
groups' range" for 1 day in July. Carbon Monoxide and PM 2.5 levels stayed in
the "good" to "moderate" range throughout the quarter. |
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CURRENT QUARTER
INDICATOR BRIEF: |
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ENVIRONMENTAL
HIGHLIGHTS: |
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1. |
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The National Clean Energy Summit was held at UNLV in August |
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2. |
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Nevada is the second-largest producer of geothermal energy, trailing behind only
California |
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3. |
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Nevada has goals of producing 20 percent of its energy through renewable
resources by 2015 |
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4. |
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Ozone concentrations reached the "unhealthy for sensitive groups" range for four
days in both July and August |
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