Here's what we were talking about most in 2021:
COVID-19
At the end of 2020, COVID-19 vaccinations started to be administered. The efforts continued throughout 2021.
Although new variants developed, we were able to continue to ease restrictions and welcome residents and visitors back to facilities and events. As of December 2021, there is still a mask directive in Clark County while indoors.
For the latest coronavirus information visit lasvegasnevada.gov/coronavirus.
Downtown
It was a year of openings and anniversary celebrations!
In an effort to showcase key areas in the city, we launched Restaurant Row and Brewery Row. To allow residents and visitors to explore the many new and continuing restaurants, we offered free lunch spot parking during weekdays.
Apartment buildings made their debut in Symphony Park, and there is more planned for the area in 2022. Read all about the exciting projects.
We also celebrated the 80th anniversary of the El Cortez Hotel & Casino and the 50th anniversary of the Plaza Hotel & Casino.
Downtown is only going to continue to grow in the next year. Learn more about some of the things already in the works.
Sports
The Las Vegas sports scene continues to grow and 2021 brought some exciting developments!
Over the summer, local athletes participated in the summer Olympics including Las Vegas Aces players and swimmers from the Sandpipers of Nevada. Learn more about our Olympians.
In September, Allegiant Stadium welcomed fans into the stadium for the first time during football games for both the Raiders and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. In December 2021, it was announced that Allegiant Stadium would be home to the 2024 Super Bowl!
On the local scene, the Shaquille O’Neal Foundation, in partnership with Icy Hot®, donated $200,000 to The Mayor’s Fund for Las Vegas LIFE for the renovation of basketball courts at the Doolittle Complex in West Las Vegas. The Shaq Courts at Doolittle opened in October and feature a state-of-the-art scoreboard, art installations, bleachers and shade structures.
The Las Vegas Raiders have also given back to the local community. The team hosted a camp at the Doolittle Complex for 60 children ages 9-11 who are part of our Westside Schools Flag Football League and donated uniforms and flags. Additionally, superstar tight end Darren Waller hosted a football camp at All American park for 100 local kids from disadvantaged communities in July, and defensive tackle Solomon Thomas spoke to local youth about the importance of mental health in September.
Transportation
The Boring tunnel system and Interstate-15 were hot topics in Las Vegas in 2021.
The first phase of Vegas Loop made its debut at the Las Vegas Convention Center earlier this year. In October 2021, Clark County approved the 29-mile tunnel network connecting 51 stations. City Council will review a downtown expansion in 2022. The project will continue to be privately funded and will need additional approvals before construction can begin.
With travel restrictions eased, Las Vegas began seeing increased amounts of visitors again in 2021. However, that also meant more traffic on Interstate 15 from Nevada to California. In December 2021, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak and California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the five-mile stretch of I-15 from the state line to the California Department of Food and Agriculture Station will be temporarily expanded. This move will hopefully ease some of the bottleneck that occurs as lanes shift from three to two as you enter California from Primm, Nevada. The project is expected to begin in the spring and Governor Newsom has promised its completion by summer 2022.
Water Shortage
On Aug. 16, 2021 the federal government, prompted by the low water levels in Lake Mead, issued a water shortage declaration on the Colorado River. The shortage will reduce the amount of water Southern Nevada will be allowed to withdraw from Lake Mead beginning in January 2022.
The declared shortage will cut Southern Nevada’s annual water allocation of 300,000 acre-feet from Lake Mead—the source of 90 percent of the community’s supply—by a total of 21,000 acre-feet (nearly seven billion gallons of water) in 2022.
In December 2021, the Southern Nevada Water Authority Board approved the 2021 Water Resource Plan and a new community conservation goal of 86 gallons per capita per day by 2035. Two resolutions were also approved:
- Restrict new turf installation and spray irrigation in all new developments except schools, parks and cemeteries. Landscape irrigation consumes more than half of Nevada’s Colorado River allocation and represents Southern Nevada’s largest consumptive water use, which can’t be recycled and reused.
- Prohibit evaporative cooling in all new developments, excluding single-family residences. Evaporative cooling mechanisms are used to cool commercial and industrial buildings, but are highly water-intensive and are Southern Nevada’s second-largest consumptive use of water, exhausting nearly 10 percent of Southern Nevada’s Colorado River allocation annually. New development must seek alternative cooling methods.
The Water Authority will work with member agencies to adopt these initiatives into regulatory codes, ordinances and policies in early 2022. Several other new water conservation measures, which are identified in the 2021 Water Resource Plan, will be rolled out over the next year and include:
- reduce golf course water budgets
- restrict the surface area of new pools
- restrict development of pools to 600 square feet
- require high-efficiency cooling
- restrict installation of turf except for parks and schools
- connect septic systems for wastewater reuse and limit future septic system installation