'We have a responsibility:' Trudeau urges global leaders to support pact for future
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is telling world leaders to either bury their heads in the sand or put differences aside for the sake of future generations.
Nevada has taken a dramatic, but not immediate, step toward limiting the amount of Colorado River water used in the most populous part of the nation's most arid state, after lawmakers gave Las Vegas-area water managers the levers to limit flows to single-family homes.
Gov. Joe Lombardo signed a law passed by the Democratic-controlled Legislature to let the Southern Nevada Water Authority restrict the amount of water provided to homes -- if the federal government further dials back Nevada's share of water drawn from the river.
"This legislation builds on our efforts to protect sustainable growth on the county and state levels," the Republican governor said in a Tuesday signing statement that cited goals of balancing economic expansion with ensuring "clean and stable water into the future."
In the Las Vegas area, ornamental lawns are already banned, swimming pool sizes are limited, almost all water inside homes is recycled, "water cops" patrol for leaks and fountains on the Las Vegas Strip use reclaimed water. Water agencies in Southern California, Phoenix and Salt Lake City joined last year in widening calls to rip out thirsty turf.
The new law pushes the region ahead of other places in the U.S. West in efforts to crack down on water wasters. But it's not a first. A water district serving homes in a celebrity enclave near Los Angeles threatened last year to slow deliveries to a trickle for wealthy customers who find monetary fines no deterrent to busting their water budgets.
In Arizona, Gov. Katie Hobbs announced last week that developers of projects in fast-growing Phoenix suburbs will have to show they can provide water to new homes from sources other than the depleted groundwater supply. The city of Scottsdale in January cut off water to homes in a neighboring unincorporated community, Rio Verde Foothills.
Southern Nevada Water Authority officials who sought the Nevada law insist they only intend to enact limits if necessary, and only after water authority board members approve a mechanism for limiting supply.
One method might be a device to restrict the flow to homes, Colby Pellegrino, water authority deputy general manager for resources, told the Legislature in testimony about the law.
"The future of the Colorado River is uncertain," said Bronson Mack, spokesperson for the agency that delivers water from the Lake Mead reservoir to some 2.4 million Las Vegas-area residents and a tourism-dependent economy that attracts some 40 million visitors per year.
Mack said Friday that 80 per cent of the nearly 580,000 single-family homes the authority serves would feel no effect if officials enforced the limit set in the law: 163,000 gallons (617,022 litres) of water per year. Apartment, hotel, commercial and industrial customers are exempt.
The average Las Vegas-area home uses about 122,000 gallons (461,820 litres), Mack said, well below the limit. The new law aims to curb excess water use by the top-most 20 per cent of residential users, who the authority says draw 45 per cent of the water.
"We want to make sure we have tools in the toolbox so we can manage water demands and continue to ensure we meet the community's water needs in the future," Mack said.
The law drew bipartisan support and backing from environmental groups including the Sierra Club and Great Basin Water Network. It comes amid increasingly aggressive efforts by federal, state, municipal and tribal officials in seven Western U.S. states that rely on the river to limit use.
In May, water administrators in Arizona, Nevada and California announced a breakthrough pact to cut their combined use of the dwindling Colorado River in exchange for funding from the U.S. government, and to avoid forced cuts by federal water administrators.
The Colorado River carries snowmelt from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California in Mexico. Along the way it is tapped and dammed to provide some 40 million people with drinking water and hydropower, as well as crucial irrigation for farms that grow most of the nation's winter vegetables. It has become threatened in recent years by climate change, rising demand and a multi-decade drought.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is telling world leaders to either bury their heads in the sand or put differences aside for the sake of future generations.
An Edmonton man says he was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he was injured by members of the Edmonton Police Service last year.
The head of the Air Canada pilots union says she'll step down if members opt not to approve a tentative deal with the airline, raising the stakes as aviators mull whether to accept hefty salary gains or drive an even harder bargain.
Unifor says workers at General Motors' CAMI assembly plant and battery facility in southwestern Ontario have ratified a new collective agreement.
The brother of a 27-year-old man who was fatally shot in Scarborough over the weekend has been arrested and charged in connection with his death, say police.
Comedian John Mulaney and actor Olivia Munn now have a second child, a daughter named Mei June Mulaney.
Kate, the Princess of Wales, made her first public appearance Sunday since she announced she had completed chemotherapy and would return to some public duties.
At least two students at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania have been suspended from the swim team after a report that a racial slur was scratched onto a student's body, officials said.
Body mass index, a long-time tool used to measure a person's health, may soon be out the door as some health professionals push for a system they say is more accurate.
Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.
Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.
An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.