Award Date

2001

Degree Type

Thesis

Number of Pages

18

Abstract

The arid Southwest of the United States is confronted with increasing water demands. Past efforts to meet water demand have been directed toward development of scarce water resources. Now the times are changing and conservation programs are being instituted to expand supplies for the growing population. In Las Vegas, the tides are shifting to conservation programs. The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), an agency comprised of the local water utilities, have united to find new sources of water to feed the growing city. SNWA has invested a great deal of money into the conservation programs as an alternative to developing new water supplies. This research studied a conservation program’s effect on the water consumption after residential customers participated in a site review. The site review program can also be referred to as an irrigation audit. Irrigation audits systematically evaluate an irrigation system and matches the scheduling of the system to the plant requirements, soil type, shade, sun exposure, and slope. The homeowner is then provided with a new water schedule and often their irrigation clock is reprogrammed. The condition of the system is reviewed to inform the owner of any broken parts or maintenance needed. Improving the system’s maintenance increases watering efficiency, which in turn reduces the amount of water required to irrigate. The evaluation of these water conservation programs is limited and relatively unknown. This research analyzes the effectiveness of this program in reducing water consumption.

Disciplines

Environmental Sciences | Natural Resources Management and Policy

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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