Thursday, January 29, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Editor's Note: Fountains of pain

Walking through Texas Station the other day, I mentioned to a colleague that I don't gamble. This isn't a big deal, really, as lots of people living in Las Vegas don't gamble.

But then I added something that surprised this colleague--and kind of surprised me a little, too. I said that I had never sat down at a blackjack table and placed a bet. It's an odd thing. I'm not particularly proud of it or embarrassed by it. It's just that I've never had a desire to spend money that way.

Later, I started thinking about a few other classic Vegas things I haven't done. I never saw Siegfried and Roy perform. Or Wayne Newton. I've never seen a stage production featuring topless showgirls. For whatever reason, I've never stepped foot in the Monte Carlo hotel-casino.

It's no big deal, but I mention these things for a reason. Despite the fact that I'm not a major participant in the Las Vegas tourist spectacle, I understand its vital importance to the community. I understand that the Strip corridor (along with downtown's Glitter Gulch and a few of the larger neighborhood casinos) is Las Vegas' muscular heart, through which all lifeblood flows.

And believe it or not, this is a column about water. Much handwringing has been occurring lately over how best to conserve water. The Colorado River's northern stretches face severe drought conditions, which reduces the available water downstream (that's us). That, coupled with Las Vegas' rampant, unceasing growth, has created a conservation movement that is enjoying considerable momentum.

The relatively easy parts have been to increase water rates, limit lawn watering and offer financial incentives to eliminate grass. A whole lot of citizens and businesses seem to be buying into these measures. The valley's turf suppliers must be mighty unhappy about now.

The harder task has been to figure out what to do with "water features," which means lakes and fountains and such. The water authority wanted to shut them off, but then the city of Las Vegas didn't play along. It came up with a plan to allow a fountain to keep flowing if the business reduced water use in some other way.

Meantime, people were wondering aloud what was going to happen with the water features on the Strip, including the granddaddy of all fountains at the Bellagio. Most assumed they would be exempted from the new rules, but others questioned whether that was the right and proper thing to do. For example, UNLV political science professor Ted Jelen dove into the debate's deep end when he told the Review-Journal last week: "The idea that you have ostentatious displays like Bellagio's fountains or some lake on the Strip when people can't wash their own cars in their driveways or water their lawns is kind of outrageous."

Jelen's viewpoint was quickly upbraided by statistics-bearing water authority officials, who said the Strip water features account for a very small percentage of local consumption. Resort executives added that water is a vital element of the tourist experience. Steve Wynn, for example, said: "People want an emotional experience they can't get every day. They want to be enveloped in an idyllic, romantic, beautiful environment, and you really can't do anything beautiful without water."

The brave professor, however, wasn't left standing alone. Columnist Steve Sebelius came to his rescue in the R-J's E-Briefing e-mail newsletter, suggesting the casino moguls were being a little melodramatic in assessing the importance of water features to tourists.

Complicating matters is the fact that much of the water used along the Strip comes from private wells, so regulatory chieftains may not have any jurisdiction over how it's used in the first place. And besides, if it's groundwater shooting into the air, it has no effect on the Colorado River supply.

My egalitarian tendencies aside, I think water features on the Strip should be allowed to flourish. Clearly, tourists like them. I know from a recent family day trip to the Strip that one of the most memorable bits was the dancing fountains at the Bellagio.

If the rest of us have to suffer with water restrictions, so be it. We live in a very dry desert. Lawns don't make sense here. And besides, they're damned hard to keep alive in July and August. Who needs the hassle and the cost? Get over the grass fixation and plant a bunch of flowery bushes. And no, we surely don't need fountains in front of gas stations.

But the Strip is something different. It's all about defying reality. Visitors get a kick out of seeing the Eiffel Tower, an Egyptian pyramid and an approximation of the Manhattan skyline. The water features are another piece of that fantasy, a bold contradiction to the geography.

Understanding that the Strip is different is part of living in Las Vegas. It doesn't mean the resorts can get away with everything. They should pay their workers well and treat them right. They should pay their taxes and then some. They shouldn't manipulate politics in nefarious ways. But we shouldn't mess with their bread and butter. That used to be greenfelt tables and slot machines, but today it's a lot more than that. Lakes, fountains, canals--whatever H2O-based fantasy these folks come up with short of a scale-model Niagara Falls--is part of the package that makes this one of the most vibrant cities in the world. You don't have to be a casino regular to see that.

--GEOFF SCHUMACHER