LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Southern Nevada’s historic drought is leading to struggles for businesses. Anthem Country Club in Henderson is temporarily closing its golf course and "Basic Water Company" is filing for bankruptcy.
James Symons is the Superintendent at Anthem Country Club Golf Course. The Golf Course has been temporarily closed to help conserve up to 40% of its water allocation.
"We want to be sustainable just to stay operational and stay functional long term," said Symons.
He says the course partially closed in July with hopes of reopening at the end of this year to renovate the greens and place more sustainable grass but in light of Southern Nevada Water Authority's proposed new regulations requiring golf courses to go down to 4 acre-feet of water use a year.
To put that measure into perspective, each acre-foot of water is about 326,000 gallons. They decided to close the entire course to reduce their amount of water usage.
"The problem is bigger than Anthem Country Club, bigger than Channel 13, it's bigger than all of us and we all have to jump in and help,” said Symons.
Bronson Mack with Southern Nevada Water Authority says through their water conserving efforts between now and the end of 2023, this country club could save up to 80 million gallons of water. Mack says more than 50 golf courses in the valley are taking similar action.
"That transition will save considerable amounts of water without affecting the playing area associated with that golf course," said Mack.
Less than 20 minutes away from this course in Henderson is Basic Water Company. Their water issues have forced them to act, too. On Saturday the company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.
Basic Water Company was the sole water provider to Henderson and Las Vegas in the mid-20th century. Now the service four industrial customers, but since July the company has been unable able to pump water from Lake Mead because levels dropped too low.
Cheryl Gowan, Vice President of Marketing said in a statement quoted.
"Due to the system's inability to draw water for the foreseeable future, BWC has filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code to facilitate a process to resolve the water system's long-term future."
Gowan says it will continue to facilitate water deliveries to its industrial customers. With the help of the City of Henderson and the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
As for Southern Nevada as a whole, Mack says since 2000, businesses and residents in the valley have made changes in water use.
"Our community has removed more than 200 million square feet of grass from this valley. It saves more than 11 billion gallons of water every single year," said Mack.
He says the work is far from being over.
