What is the future of the SW USA?

[Pioneer Dawg]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...nning-dry.html

Will Vegas, Phoenix, and even LA be greatly reduced in size? Any knowledge on what can actually be expected in the future?

[War Machine Dawg]

It sounds like Vegas is toast and everyone will be forced to move out. Phoenix and LA, who knows. LA may have a chance since it's on the Pacific. Build massive water treatment & purification centers and use salt water as the water source. Regardless, the SW desperately needs several very good years of rain in a row to have any chance. And so far as I'm concerned, Vegas is getting exactly what it deserves. Building a ginormous tourist trap in the middle of the f'n desert was a ridiculous idea from the beginning.

[Esmerelda Villalobos]

The intent was for vegas to be in hot springs, ar. When they werent allowed to put it there, vegas was about their only other option.

[BulldogBear]

The intent was for vegas to be in hot springs, ar. When they werent allowed to put it there, vegas was about their only other option.

Oh, we could muse on that one.... What would the impact on the economy of the state Arkansas today? University of Arkansas athletics? Wait, Eureka Springs is in the north right... I get Hot Springs and Eureka Springs confused.

[Esmerelda Villalobos]

Hot Springs is less than an hour SW of little rock. Ive been there quite a bit. They have a gangster museum and that was the place for organized crime in the day. They all had houses out on that big lake.

The economical impact wouldve been huge. That said, a lot of other things would change. MS might not even have casinos, etc.

[Johnson85]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...nning-dry.html

Will Vegas, Phoenix, and even LA be greatly reduced in size? Any knowledge on what can actually be expected in the future?

It's amazing the extent people are willing to court disaster in order to pretend the laws of supply and demand don't apply to water. A graduated pricing system would do wonders. It could be devastating to the golfing around Vegas, but if people really want to play on lush green golf courses in the middle of the desert, they'll have to pay for it.

[Political Hack]

it'll be a temporary bump for AC, Biloxi, Tunica, etc...

in fact, with the ties to Vegas ownership in those casinos, I'd imagine a huge influx of investments moving east. imagine the newer shows, increased traffic, world poker tour, international travelers, etc... It would spread the wealth tremendously, and there's a lot of wealth in Vegas.

[Pioneer Dawg]

it'll be a temporary bump for AC, Biloxi, Tunica, etc...

in fact, with the ties to Vegas ownership in those casinos, I'd imagine a huge influx of investments moving east. imagine the newer shows, increased traffic, world poker tour, international travelers, etc... It would spread the wealth tremendously, and there's a lot of wealth in Vegas.

AC is slowly going under. We need to promote the shit out of Tunica and Biloxi. It will be the new Vegas

[PassInterference]

Can't they turn sewage into drinking water? I am pretty sure Dallas, TX does that. Disgusting as it sounds, what comes out is pure water. And water is water.

If they did that, a lot, the water supply would be close enough to endless.

I'm sure I'm missing something seeing as how they're about to dry up.

[Goat Holder]

We need to promote the shit out of Tunica and Biloxi. It will be the new Vegas

Regarding Tunica, they better do it quickly. That place is dead at the moment. Folks over there are VERY concerned.

Regarding Biloxi, does anyone really want to make a bunch of investments in an area that will be devastated by a Cat 5 hurricane every 30 years? Don't get me wrong....I hope they do, I'd love to see it. But they better find a way to get the casinos off the water and farther inland.

[Political Hack]

Regarding Tunica, they better do it quickly. That place is dead at the moment. Folks over there are VERY concerned.

Regarding Biloxi, does anyone really want to make a bunch of investments in an area that will be devastated by a Cat 5 hurricane every 30 years? Don't get me wrong....I hope they do, I'd love to see it. But they better find a way to get the casinos off the water and farther inland.

they did that already. They've been built back correctly, off the water, and mitigated ground level damage through construction. They're built to recover more quickly. I just wish they'd have an interest in cleaning up the beach and the water.

[Goat Holder]

they did that already. They've been built back correctly, off the water, and mitigated ground level damage through construction. They're built to recover more quickly. I just wish they'd have an interest in cleaning up the beach and the water.

Good, I didn't know that.

As native Mississippians (I don't live there anymore), we really should all be concerned about the welfare of the Coast. It's the cash cow in MS, as far as tourism goes. My company has a saying, "The money in MS is on the Coast". Not sure you can do much with the beach/water, with the river and all. I think they've done a good job capitalizing on other things, such as fishing, food, casinos, golf, etc. Now....if they'd just build that Civil Rights Trail throughout the northern part of the state, we'd really be on to some tourism dollars.

[Johnson85]

http://www.coyoteblog.com/coyote_blo...tarianism.html

[Political Hack]

http://www.coyoteblog.com/coyote_blo...tarianism.html

As the Minister of Truth, I approve this message.

[Political Hack]

Good, I didn't know that.

As native Mississippians (I don't live there anymore), we really should all be concerned about the welfare of the Coast. It's the cash cow in MS, as far as tourism goes. My company has a saying, "The money in MS is on the Coast". Not sure you can do much with the beach/water, with the river and all. I think they've done a good job capitalizing on other things, such as fishing, food, casinos, golf, etc. Now....if they'd just build that Civil Rights Trail throughout the northern part of the state, we'd really be on to some tourism dollars.

I don't know why the MS Sound is as dirty s it is. Some blame the river, some blame the islands, some blame the drainage off of hwy 90, some blame MRGO, etc... I know that the south side of ship island looks a whole lot more like Florida than the north side... and the current isn't running west to east as the river flows constantly. I wish there was some way to clean it up.... casinos, beach, clean water, fishing, seafood, golf, etc... would be a damn tourism heaven. If nothing else they need to take better advantage of the south side of the barrier islands.

[Johnson85]

I don't know why the MS Sound is as dirty s it is. Some blame the river, some blame the islands, some blame the drainage off of hwy 90, some blame MRGO, etc... I know that the south side of ship island looks a whole lot more like Florida than the north side... and the current isn't running west to east as the river flows constantly. I wish there was some way to clean it up.... casinos, beach, clean water, fishing, seafood, golf, etc... would be a damn tourism heaven. If nothing else they need to take better advantage of the south side of the barrier islands.

Depends on what you mean by 'dirty'. It's muddy because all of the sources of water are either rivers with muddy and not sandy bottoms or are runoff. There's not much that can be done about this.

If you mean the periodically high bacteria counts that cause beach closings, I think this is because of runoff water because the areas that experience this are localized. I'm not sure if it's a problem that we direct too much runoff water to the sound (or if there is an alternative) or if the problem is that the land in the watershed going into the sound is too polluted. I'm not sure how you address this. IF it's an option to catcha nd treat the runoff, we almost assuredly don't have the money to do this. Maybe doing cleanup in areas where the runoff comes from could help.

If you mean litter in the water, I'm not sure how much worse it is than other places, but I think part of the problem is that it's hard to pick up trash that makes it into the water when you can't clearly see it. It's not abnormal to see people in Destin pull trash out of the water. In Gulfshores, where it's a little harder to see what the trash is, I feel like people pick up less. In Mississippi, you don't even know what the litter is most of the time. Just not enough visibility.

I'm not sure how to take better advantage of the barrier islands. The problem is getting people out there. It's not like Crab Island where you can send somebody relatively inexperienced out there with a rental boat. And even when you get out there, it's more like Gulf SHores than Destin as far as water quality. It would help to have an attraction out there, but I'm not sure what you'd be allowed to build and what you could economically build knowing that it's probably not going to survive a significant hurricane out there.

[Political Hack]

small KOA style campsites with a park run store/small grocery would be all you need. People just need to be able to dedicate themselves for a weekend trip rather than a few hours. Driving to Gulfport, catching the ferry, unloading, getting to the beach, and then doing it all again on the way back is way, way too much time and work for a few hours of beach. They need a way for people to stay out there longer, with a few minimal resources, and potentially overnight lodging.

[Johnson85]

small KOA style campsites with a park run store/small grocery would be all you need. People just need to be able to dedicate themselves for a weekend trip rather than a few hours. Driving to Gulfport, catching the ferry, unloading, getting to the beach, and then doing it all again on the way back is way, way too much time and work for a few hours of beach. They need a way for people to stay out there longer, with a few minimal resources, and potentially overnight lodging.

I like the idea but see two problems with it:

(1) No utilities. Any power has to be produced from a generator. So if anything that is sold requires refrigeration, it'd have to be crazy expensive to reflect the cost of keeping it cool. So I think you'd basically be stuck with non-refrigerated stuff. You won't have running water and sewage unless you have a tank of water and a septic tank. Not sure how practical that is. So I think your campsite will be more primitive than most, without even the option of a shower house. Being out there with sand all around, going a couple of days without a shower can be pretty rough.

(2) Storms. Over the course of a couple of days in the summer, there's a good chance you're going to have at a pretty stiff thunderstorm to deal with even on days where the forecast is pretty clear. I don't think it's particularly dangerous to ride out those storms, but a lot of people won't like it, and it won't be like at normal camp sites where you can pop into a car to ride it out if it's too bad.

Still like the idea, but your market will be little limited, and I'm not sure it will provide a significant increase in tourism dollars spent.