Should Las Vegas Get A Bailout With Federal Disaster Aid??

Hello Friends of the Colorado River!

Should Las Vegas get a bailout?  A fascinating twist has occurred on the Colorado River in that drought and climate change are happening more rapidly than anyone could have imagined.  Given the low runoff of water, the levels of Lake Powell and Lake Mead are dropping more quickly than predicted causing massive concern by water management officials in the Southwest U.S.  Multiple news stories of the past 3 weeks (here, here, and here) have discussed whether 2013 will be the year where the federal government declares the first official "shortage" on the Colorado River system and then mandates less water being released out of Glen Canyon Dam.  The feds' decision is expected in the next couple of days.  Should they mandate the curtailment, it could have far reaching impacts to water supplies for Nevada, Arizona, and California, as well as potential diminished hydroelectric power from Hoover Dam. Las Vegas is in the most precarious position. If the feds curtail the amount of water flowing into Lake Mead, the Lake level drops even faster, which could potentially cause Vegas to not be able to suck water out of Lake Mead.  As a result, Vegas is frantically tunneling under Lake Mead with a billion-dollar project to make sure they can suck water out of the Lake, but their project isn't built yet.  So, in a bold move, the director of Las Vegas' water agency is asking the federal government for "federal disaster aid" like the kind cities get when hurricanes strike.  So, we want to know your opinion -- Should Las Vegas Get A Bailout With Federal Disaster Aid?  Click through here to answer the poll or leave a comment.

CEOs Stand Up For The Colorado River!  Working with our partners at Protect The Flows, last week we organized at the Outdoor Retailers Show in Salt Lake City.  We had astounding results, gaining support from 11 CEO's and leaders from the outdoor industry.  Our campaign to get social medial actions sent to Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell got over 500 hits, and we gave away two stand up paddleboards to people who tweeted to Secretary Jewell.  Support from CEOs came from Patagonia, Boardworks, prAna, Nantahala Outdoor Center, Petzl, Horny Toad, Black Diamond, Teva, Osprey, and Red Wing Shoes.  Check out these great photos of these 11 CEOs sporting "Stand Up For The Colorado" hats and helping to promote the paddleboard sweepstakes.  A big Thank You to Protect The Flows!  Pictured to the left is Casey Sheehan, CEO of Patagonia, one of the main supporters of Save The Colorado -- thank you Patagonia!!  We are delighted to have increasing support from the outdoor industry to help protect and restore the Colorado River.  If you're in the business of making a living by enjoying and promoting the outdoor resources of the Southwest U.S., then your business depends on a healthy Colorado River ecosystem -- the CEOs who stood up for the Colorado and ask everyone to speak out to Secretary Jewell understand the need to protect our environment!

Finally, we leave you with the photo of the winner of the raft trip through Dinosaur National Monument.  Congratulations Jeremiah Hughes for the photo below, and thank you to everyone who entered with fantastic photos!  Enjoy the great trip, Jeremiah!

Thank you for your support!

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