Las Vegas water tight

In a report by 24/7 Wall St., an online financial analysis site, Las Vegas placed seventh on a list of 10 U.S. cities that are running out of water.

“The city’s main source is Lake Mead, which supplies 85 percent of the water used in the Las Vegas Valley,” the report reads. “Unfortunately, the lake is 59 percent empty and is approaching its first water shortage ever. In addition to Las Vegas, it would affect other areas of Nevada and Arizona. Moreover, it could potentially stop the Hoover dam from producing electricity—as soon as 2013.”

Las Vegas is trying to tap water supplies in eastern Nevada and western Utah. That effort is opposed by a variety of community and activist groups, which were joined in June by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The church filed protests against four of the southern Nevada water rights applications.