Supposedly, though, Nevada and specifically Las Vegas is one of the most water-efficient places on the planet. Everything is optimized for minimum water usage there, and I imagine a similar thing could happen in New Mexico.
Perhaps it could, but in Nevada there are very specific reasons that things are the way they are: specifically, the gambling industry and associated tourism, which together have driven all the growth in southern Nevada. If not for gambling, southern Nevada would look like southern Utah and Las Vegas might be the size of St. George. Nevada is the outlier here, not New Mexico. Maybe New Mexico would be different if it had legalized casino gambling, but 48 other states haven't done that, either.
Nevada was pretty lightly populated for decades until about 60-70 years ago.
