Drive in any direction through Washington County, Utah and you’ll soon see yellow bulldozers piling up mounds of red dirt and black lava rock to make way for yet another housing development. According to the recent U.S. census, Utah was the fastest-growing state in the nation between 2010 and 2020, increasing its population at a blisteringly fast rate of 18.4%. And in its southwest corner, Washington County, with its stunning vistas, National Park access, recreation opportunities and warm, sunny climate led the state in that trend, attracting nearly 50,000 new residents over the last decade, a 36% increase over its 2010 population.
Those 50,000 new people are just the beginning of a growth pattern projected by the Gardner Institute to flood Washington County with 321,000 additional residents over the next 45 years, to reach a local population of 509,000 by 2065. That number of people 80% of the current population of Las Vegas will require a lot of water in this desert landscap
New Billings Heights water board members pleased after visit to district office
New Billings Heights water board members moving forward
and last updated 2021-05-14 00:40:02-04
There is still some confusion about who is on the Billings Heights water district board.
Five trustees - three who were recently elected and two appointees- say they re on the board. But the three who lost the election this spring say they re in until May 31.
Five board members had enough for a quorum and held a meeting on Wednesday night after a sign on the door stated it was temporarily postponed.
They asked why on Thursday and found out the postponement had to do with a temporary restraining order, granted by a Yellowstone County district court judge, that stated the district could not prevent the three elected and two appointed trustees from being on the board.
1885 The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad reaches San Bernardino. [Source:
California by Kevin Starr.]
1886 The completion of the Santa Fe Railroad leads to a price war, lowering the cost of a rail trip from the Mid West to the West Coast to as low as $1 per person.
1887 The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad reaches Los Angeles. [Source:
California by Kevin Starr.]Occidental College and Pomona College opened. [Source:
California by Kevin Starr.]
California by Kevin Starr.]
Lux v. Haggin, modifies the doctrine of riparian rites within the State of California. [Source:
California by Kevin Starr.]
1889 Orange County is established by an act of the California State Legislature from a southeastern section of Los Angeles County.
The Southwest Offers Blueprints for the Future of Wastewater Reuse
Lake Powell, a man-made reservoir on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, is the nation’s second-largest reservoir by maximum water capacity, supplying water to several Western states.
This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.
No country is immune from water scarcity issues not even the world’s wealthiest country, the United States.
The southwestern states, in particular, have faced frequent and ongoing droughts over the past two decades, and traditional water supplies are failing. As groundwater supplies in the region have depleted substantially, rainfall has decreased and the costs of importing water have risen substantially.