Will Las Vegas's New Pool Ban Impact Your Vacation?
(CNN) -- For a city in the desert, water conservation must be a way of life. But amid a prolonged megadrought that has depleted water resources across the Southwest, the need to save every drop has intensified in Southern Nevada.Las Vegas knows the stakes are high, and it isn't gambling on Mother Nature to solve its water problems.Instead, the city is betting on extreme water-saving measures to keep the taps flowing.
How will that impact your next vacation and favorite pool parties? Here's what Vegas is betting will beat the drought.Bet 1: Banning mega-poolsLas Vegans are no longer allowed to build giant swimming pools or spas at single-family homes.The Southern Nevada Water Authority says there's been a proliferation of giant pools -- some larger than 3,000 square feet -- in recent years.
The new building code limits new pools to no more than 600 square feet -- a move the Las Vegas Valley Water District says will save more than 32 million gallons of water over the next decade.
The average pool size in southern Nevada is 470 square feet.The idea was to prevent people from building pools that were more like "water features" at some homes, rather than recreational swimming pools, said Bronson Mack, public outreach officer for the Water Authority, which manages water resources for 2.2 million people including Las Vegas."A lot of these more affluent homes, they're not even occupied year-round," Mack told CNN. "And yet they have all of this water in their backyard."Bet 2: Reclaiming all indoor water for reuseMost of the Water Authority's conservation efforts focus on outdoor water.
