Day 5

Day Five – Saturday 19^th April

Boulder and Hoover Dam

(Sign from a shop window in Boulder City)

As I explored downtown Boulder City, with its historic feel and small businesses, the thing that stood out most to me was this sign. It instantly jumped out at me and caught my attention because it seemed to me to represent Boulder City on the whole, a place that harks back to a lost and forgotten America, one that isn’t dominated by franchises and corporations. It demonstrates the intense patriotism associated with America, the flag waving and loud nationalism, as the people of Boulder City and the tourists stopping by are clearly willing to pay that little bit extra to keep Americans working. The sign also suggests a sense of control as the owners have set out to manufacture a store that only sells American made products and not mass produced overseas made clothing, echoing the decision the Boulder City council to keep franchises and chains out of the downtown area, to allow the small businesses to flourish. Downtown Boulder City is therefore just as fabricated as the Strip and Town Square.

(Hoover Dam)

You can see from the picture how far the water levels of Lake Mead, the reservoir which powers the Hoover Dam, have fallen, highlighting the Southwest’s looming water disaster. While you can feel the effects beginning to grip Las Vegas, manifesting most prominently for me in drizzly trickle of a shower in the motel room, as well in the general lack of greenery in Las Vegas, suburban houses now opt for desert gardens, consisting of cacti and other desert shrubbery which don't need to be watered. This was the first time that I really understood the extent of the water problem that Las Vegas is facing. 

Unfortunately my picture doesn't truly capture the dramatic drop in water level, Lake Mead is currently holding half its maximum water capacity, and is undeniably going to drop even further below this in the coming years. Yet what are the solutions to this? If the lake ran dry it would spell the end for Las Vegas and all the other cities in the South West, but the people of the region can’t just stop using the water from the lake to keep it from running out. If they are lucky the current drought will break soon and a couple of wet years will come, but if not the outcome looks very dour.