Day Five- Saturday 19th April

The 'Bathtub ring' at Hoover Dam

This day was one of the most surreal days I experienced during this trip. Due to the variation of these small towns that we visited, the differences between them illuminated.

Boulder City is a quaint, serene town that many of its residents admire. It seemed to be a nice place to live, within the town there are a large amount of properties; starting from $125,000 up to $3 million for properties close to Lake Mead. Water in this area is an important commodity and people will pay a lot of money to be near it. Many of the residents spend their whole lives in Boulder City and are able to see the same people who they grew up with on a regular basis. I think I could live in this area due to the attractiveness of the town and the variation of stores and restaurants within the town allows you to have everything you need in close proximity.

The Hoover Dam was both amazing and terrifying at the same time. The ‘bathtub ring’ is difficult to comprehend how much water has been lost, and how much water has been used in such a short amount of time. The water supply for Las Vegas is not enough for the population of the city, the fact that there has been a drought recently and the water supply is not sufficient enough leads the city to think of other ideas to supply the city with enough water to last. In 2012 plans to pump water across the desert into the valley was approved leaving the city with a temporary solution to its needs. ⁶

Chloride prides itself on being a real ghost town, and it not only provides a miniature imitation ghost town but the town itself gives an eerie atmosphere. Meeting the people of the town enabled an insight into their daily lives and it was clear that they were not fond of tourists. A 17 year old who worked in a store did not appear to be a healthy teenager. He had aspirations to go to college after graduating from school online which seemed to be a distant dream rather than a reality when you consider college requirements of funding and grades. The town provided an unnerving feeling throughout and the reality of drug use was present with the residents. The town did not have access to hospitals, fire departments or schools which I feel would be really difficult to live without.

⁶ Suzanne Goldenberg, Las Vegas plans to pump water across 300 miles of desert approved, theguardian, http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/mar/23/las-vegas-pump-water-approved