Reader comments
Readers' forum: Vegas should conserve

Really, the question is about economics and freedom. Forced conservation is none other than government-mandates that take away our rights. If Vegas can afford the water and "fragile" eco systems and farmers can't afford the water, then they deserve to fail. Remember, Vegas generates far more money for the "wasted" water than any farmer can get for food from that water. It's just basic economics. We can get our food from South America and China. Vegas provides many jobs in the hotel industry. Those farmers should sell out and work as hotel workers. It's all about economics and freedom of choice.

To judge the Las Vegas water usage by simply watching a TV in the hotel room - which is trying to get you to spend more of your hard earned money in their facilities - is simply lazy. The Las Vegas area has very strict water usage requirements, including severe restrictions on residential landscaping, car washes, new fountains, etc. Much, if not all the water in some cases, that waters the area golf courses is reclaimed water - you know, the stuff they treat at the sewer plant that neither you nor I would ever think of drinking nor washing ourselves with.

If I were to judge Utah by the very few things that I see in Provo, I would assume that all love the Cougars and all else is evil (come to think of it, that may be correct!). But I know better. Just as Utah has much to offer, so does the greater Las Vegas area. Next time you come to visit, leave the hotel and visit our other sites that don't require you to part with your money through chance. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

Las Vegas already conserves. You have to pay an arm and leg if you have a back lawn. You get another break if you don't have a front lawn and landscape natively. And as for the fountiains, like the Bellagio... it's gray water. You know... the stuff that comes from you sewer after it's treated... that you won't drink. Vegas turned a waste product into a tourist attraction. Get off their backs.