Nevada Cashes In

The NYT has an article about selling federal land to support Las Vegas untenable lifestyle.

Tens of thousands of acres of federal lands in the Las Vegas area have been sold under an unusual law pushed through Congress nearly a decade ago by the Nevada delegation. The sales have grossed nearly $3 billion and counting.

It seems the other forty nine states are subsidizing life in the desert. Most Americans do not think about water too much, but with global warming it is going to be a much bigger deal. Living in the desert is not such a good idea.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority, the agency that has long provided cheap water to the valley’s two million residents, has received $285 million from the federal land sales, which it has used on a variety of water treatment, testing and transport projects, including facilities at drought-plagued Lake Mead. Plans for revenue from future land sales, water officials say, could include work on a pipeline to import water from 250 miles away.[...]
Moreover, local authorities are getting ever bolder in using the proceeds from the federal land sales for expenses not traditionally covered by money from federal taxpayers. More recent bills, authorizing the sales in eastern Nevada, funnel 10 percent of federal proceeds back into law enforcement, fire protection and transportation, traditionally the bailiwick of local governments.

Some of the projects are just unreal with golf courses and no doubt green lawns. It will be ugly in the not too distant future.