This study evaluates the socioeconomic impacts of the Second Stage of the Southern Nevada Water Project of the United States Bureau of Reclamation, comparing that project with the alternatives of importing water from Nevada areas somewhat removed from the Las Vegas Valley and of leaving the water supply of the Valley basically as it is, the no project alternative.
The study follows, with adaptations and extensions, the general methodology for socioeconomic impact studies as developed and still being evolved in successive socioeconomic analyses of Bureau of Reclamation water projects. The methodology recognizes that the complexity of modern society and water impacts requires that water project analyses extend beyond the dollar cost benefit approach, which usually is the most reliable guide to decision, to considerations of qualitative effects, which often are of dominant importance despite their difficulty of measurement. Such analysis requires the tools of economics, sociology, engineering, law, political science and other related fields. It also dictates a step-by-step process which insures comprehensive consideration of the direct and indirect impacts of water projects on all of the social sectors which command public interest and concern. Such a step-by-step process constitutes the six chapters of this report