Just ahead on this American land, there's one sure bet in Las Vegas.

This city takes its water crisis very seriously.

Well, this was all grass and now it's all freshly zero.

Escape from a good bye to grass to a nudge from the water patrol.

Conservation is an odds on favorite here.

One woman's love for the great outdoors has launched exhilarating new adventures for others from coast to coast.

Just this park here is all you need to get the full flavor of Iran.

How do you get your kids to eat vegetables?

Let them grow their own.

We consider ourselves farmers in progress.

The urban farm movement adds taste, nutrition and good jobs in cities now stuck on fast food.

People on this side of town do want and need the same nutrients as everybody else.

So grab a healthy snack and get ready for a memorable day on the water.

We won't waste a drop.

This American land starts now.

Funding for this American land provided by the Walton Family Foundation.

Hello and welcome to this American land.

I'm your host at Arnett, and today you'll get to meet some of the dedicated people protecting our natural resources, our landscapes, waters and our wildlife.

The water crisis in the Colorado River Basin is inching toward catastrophe.

Less snowpack in the Rockies is part of the problem.

But the bigger impact from climate change is that snowmelt and rain are soaking into the increasingly dry ground.

Instead of replenishing the river system.

40 million people rely on the river and its reservoirs for water and power.

And as levels dip dangerously low, some are wondering if cities in the desert are doomed to dry up.

Brad Higgs shows you how one major metro area is making sure it has water for the future.

With views like this, it's easy to see the appeal of Boulder City, Nevada, an offbeat place with an unusual past.

It was founded in the 1930s to house workers building Hoover Dam, which holds back Lake Mead.

Now it's the only city in southern Nevada that doesn't allow gambling and the only city from which you can see America's biggest manmade reservoir.

People really like one small town atmosphere.

The wonderful shops in our historic downtown.

And then they just love being near Lake Mead.

But the big lake below them is shrinking the shoreline, retreating as the Colorado River basin dries up.

And Boulder City has a front row seat.

I hear more and more, hey, I.

Can see Lake Mead out of my back door and it keeps going down.

And there's a problem.

The evidence is etched on the rock, a wide white line from when the water was taken for granted and the lake seemed like it would last forever.

Over the past 20 years, the water level has dropped dramatically, about 170 feet, more than halfway to a disastrous Deadpool.

A doomsday scenario when the lake is so low, no water at all would flow through Hoover Dam.

We came into this century essentially for 100% of capacity in Lake Mead.

Today we're at 28, 29% capacity.

This is like you're driving down a desert highway.

Your gas gauge is on quarter tank and you don't know if there's a gas station for another 200 miles, but you just keep driving hoping eventually the warning lights are going to go on.

When is that warning light for you?

Well, you can see the lake getting to that point within the next 24 months.

Lake Mead supplies 90% of the water for southern Nevada, where every day tens of thousands of tourists and more than 2 million residents.

David Santos job is to make sure what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

What you're seeing here is what is really the workhorse of our treatment process in a place where every drop is precious.

99% of the water used indoors is captured and cleaned.

The motivation is one of survival.

After microorganisms work, their magic and gravity gets rid of the gunk.

The reclaimed water is released into what is affectionately known as the wash.

The breed of green in the desert.

Brown carries the clean water about 15 miles across weirs and through wetlands back to Lake Mead.

By doing that, the region maintains a sort of savings account for every gallon it puts back in Lake Mead.

It gets to take a gallon out without that counting against its allocation.

And it's absolutely essential for this community, because without it, we'd be using more than we're allocated out of that lake.

With a closed loop system like that, you might be wondering what more could possibly be done.

The answer is right at my feet.

Grass.

John End's finger heads the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the agency responsible for water resources in the region.

And what's the big push right now?

The biggest push is getting the nonfunctional turf out.

The state has mandated all nonfunctional grass be gone in southern Nevada by 2026.

But in an area where many of the suburban names fuel the fantasy of endless water, it's a big job.

Well, this was all grass, and now it's all freshly zero escape.

Curtis Hyde's landscaping company has been busy replacing acres of grass with drip irrigation and drought tolerant plants.

Now it's water savings to get with something like this.

Oh, gosh, it's around 70%.

In the Mojave Desert, it takes 78 gallons per square foot each year to water, along with sprinklers.

Zero escaping with drip irrigation and desert viable plants gets that down to 18.

The water authority is even offering incentives to get rid of the grass.

Three bucks per square foot for small lawns, about 50 for big projects like this.

And it's working.

We've taken out enough grass in Las Vegas to take an 18 inch wide piece of sod and lay it around the circumference of the earth.

AT&T lawn equipment, where they've been fixing mowers since 1980.

Rusted relics from the glory days of green grass are orphaned out front.

You've got a few people of my own compared to what it used to be.

As for the few who still cling to their sod.

Water Waste investigator 8776 Cameron Donnarumma is keeping a close eye on them.

Every morning he's out patrolling the neighborhoods, issuing warnings and fines for repeat offenders.

So you are allowed to water today.

However, there is water running off your property.

This homeowner wants to replace his lawn.

So instead of a warning, he got information about the incentive program.

We really appreciate your for your cooperation, sir.

Thank you.

Because outdoor use accounts for 60% of the water consumed in southern Nevada.

Other measures now prohibit new golf courses, evaporative cooling on new construction and building ultra big backyard pools.

This comprehensive approach has made southern Nevada a shining example for the rest of the Colorado River Basin.

This is our US office in Henderson, Nevada.

UK based company Sierra Nicks was so impressed it chose the area as a proving ground for its pipe minder product.

We were looking to have a base of operations here in the US and we knew there was a lot of opportunity to help organizations that we're looking to reduce water loss.

The pipe minder makes more than 100 pressure readings per second on the system, pressure fluctuations that are absolutely like wear and tear on a water system.

And this technology is so sophisticated that it can detect those slight changes in water pressure, which means fewer leaks, fewer breaks and more water saved.

But no matter how much water Southern Nevada saves, it won't solve the problem.

Seven states and part of Mexico pull water from the river, each as allotted a specific portion.

Nevada's slice is the smallest, just 1.8% of the total take.

Lake Mead loses twice that much just to evaporation.

The math exposes a common misconception about urban development and the decline of the Colorado.

Last year, the federal government determined it would take a 30% reduction in water use to bring the river back into equilibrium.

You could literally evacuate Denver, Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Phenix and Coastal California and not save that amount of water because about 80% of the water removed from the river is used for irrigation, most of it in California and Arizona.

A right inherited from the early agreements that divvied up the river.

But if Lake Mead drops to Deadpool, those legal rights will be worthless.

California and Arizona downstream from Hoover Dam will be completely cut off.

Southern Nevada, on the other hand, has a safety net.

Last year, it started operating a new intake at the lake.

So far under water, it will be able to keep the flow going to southern Nevada, even if the lake level reaches Deadpool.

If that ever happens, the view from Boulder City won't look anything like it does today.

But they'll still be able to sip on a glass of cool Colorado River water as they reflect on the big lake that used to be visible from their back door.

Visitors to our nation's parks and waterways often make new and delightful discoveries.

With every cross-country ski adventure or kayaking trip they take.

The group Outdoor Afro helps reconnect people to nature year round across the country, and their instructors teach outdoor skills at all levels.

But they do more than that.

They share important black history and culture that can be celebrated in some of our country's wildest and most beautiful places.

I spent some time in the California redwoods with the group's founder Route Map.

People are hungry for connection.

We have so many distractions, so many ways that we're divided across perceived differences.

Your racial background, your economic status, your politics.

Nature is indifferent to all the things that we put on each other as different.

So tell us about this place where we're walking through today.

Well, we are here in Walking Miller Park, and it's a very special place for a lot of Oaklanders.

And this is the park that was literally in my backyard.

So is your playground.

Yeah.

In addition to this incredible Oakland Hills nature, my family also had a ranch.

We hunted, we fished, and we also had a lot of opportunity for our community to share.

And my dad had this saying and it was you have a standing invitation that once invited, you're always welcome.

That kind of hospitality sits at the heart of what outdoor Afro is today.

As I got back into the cities and joined clubs and outdoor experiences, I didn't see enough people who looked like me in those experience.

Aces.

People were getting outside.

But that story was just not well represented.

I'm being told.

No.

So outdoor afro set out to do something about that outdoor afro is letting people know that they are welcome in the outdoors.

And then over time, we started creating opportunities for people to get outside.

And I decided to create an outdoor Afro leadership development program.

And they set out to get people in the outdoors all over the country.

Like here in Oakland, we have a firefighter in Seattle, we're real estate appraiser in Charleston, South Carolina, a medical professional.

Is 604, which I'm running a little late today.

My name is definitely I'm a patient care tent slash monitor tech.

On my off days, I work part time at Central Supply in the main hospital.

So my tools for the day.

Okay.

So go to the E.R..

I do.

I have all the kids.

And anytime something happens, medical, they always call me.

So I'm working here is 8 hours, two days a week, and I chill in Jenkins.

12 hours, three days a week.

And then I also take care of my dad.

I don't think about it, but it is a lot.

I've been outdoor Afro leader.

This is my fourth year.

And when I find the time I go out in search of things for us to do and I also have to plan it.

So going through the event myself first, I do enjoy telling the history of the area and like the people that live there.

Today's event is Palin on the Columbia River in honor of Harriet Tubman.

She did a raid on the Columbia ferry to help free 700 slaves.

It really enlightened me to know that she was just more than just a person that emancipated enslaved people.

Since it's so late in the year and it's in November, we're just doing a small kayak and group.

My name is Terry Major.

We do open in circles so people could introduce themselves and just like it's just like a warm up so people don't feel nervous.

And then we explain to them, like, what we're going to do.

So if everybody wants to grab their paddles and put your paddles on top of your head, I found out about outdoor afro because my kids were getting older, so I needed something to do for stroke.

I think I make a good applicant for their mission because I try and help people get out and explore nature and I try and do things that people haven't done or I wanted to try to do.

And so it helps giving them that little push to say, Hey, people that look like you do do these things.

They were able to free 700 slaves in this raid on the Columbia.

The reason why they use Harriet was because of the information that she had for the Underground Railroad.

Funny thing here is important to me because it's nice when someone went kayaking and went camping for the first time and it was like, Wow, I really enjoyed it.

And it was something that they would never think that they would do.

Now, forward in the right time.

People do have their fears and you work with them and let them feel secure that, you know, like you're safe, you're in a safe place and we're here to help you moving in a groove.

So it was a learning curve.

The kayaks are a little different.

They took the time to give me a little bit more than just the bare basics.

So learning how to turn properly.

Bring it around.

My goal is to get a kayak.

I want to buy a kayak.

I think there are over.

Or the purpose for outdoor afro is to get more African American people outdoors.

A lot of us are afraid of water.

Don't worry about me.

A lot of African American people are afraid of water or they do not know how to swim.

And this is just opening up a vast so things that you can do, but also just doing things with like minded people.

Sometimes you go places where you don't see anyone of color.

A tiny bit left, right, a tiny bit.

We all sort of make these judgments about people.

And what I'm realizing as a shop owner is all kinds come to me and I get a chance to sort of like put those biased to the side and like look at that person and say, you know what?

That person can paddle even though they may not look like someone who can paddle.

To me, this trip was great.

Anytime we can get out on the water, even if it's just for a little while and helping people learn about how to kayak and to be safe, that's the one thing that we really try and do.

Thank everybody for coming out.

We always do a closing circle at the end of outdoor Afro events, and it's just a moment of reflection.

Learning new things, enjoying the water.

It's a glorious time for me.

Relaxing those feelings of joy and connection are what shine through and keep people coming back again and again.

Next Saturday we're doing a hunting and archery class.

And I'm just so glad and thankful to be doing work that makes sense in people's lives and meets a need that I believe all humans have, and that is to connect with others.

Urban gardens can provide healthy fruits and vegetables for folks in big cities, and they also can get residents working together in green spaces and provide benefits for both the climate and the environment.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a thriving program called People's Garden now with more than 500 working locations.

Besides growing tasty produce, these gardens can include wildlife habitats and other conservation projects.

A couple of years ago, we met a number of urban gardeners and farmers on a story we did in Dallas.

They told us what motivated them to get involved here in the Dallas Metroplex.

It's basically a concrete jungle.

It's about a rat race.

People don't have time but to go to work.

Drive back home and go to bed.

That's pretty much it.

And basically their meals are fast food.

No one's really setting up gardens like they should.

It's important to have farms in the city because we've lost track of where we've come from.

People are so disconnected from the food.

System that I think it's causing problems with health of our nation.

The grocery store, they want the biggest bell pepper and not the one that smells.

Good like a bell pepper should.

Just this part here is all you need to get the full flavor of a radish.

Food is always better when it's when it's fresh off the vine.

And so when you can provide that, people recognize that and they want it.

What urban farmers are able to do is grow a lot of these specialty crops, and because of their proximity to markets, they're able to really capitalize on those markets.

I am James Hunter, farm director at the Paul Quinn College.

We over me Farm.

2.29.

The gross margin on an acre on an urban farm when producing high yield specialty crops far exceeds an acre of corn or soybeans.

My name is Darcy Houston.

I am an alum of Paul Quinn College.

I used to live in the community, so I understand what it's like to not have access to natural and organic produce.

The people on this side of town do want and need the same nutrients as everybody else.

We do sell to our community at cost.

If you can introduce kids to vegetables and fruit and if they grow it, they're probably going to take at least a bite of it and they probably.

Will like it because they grew it.

So there's this ownership that I planted to see this plant grew.

It produced peppers, I ate it, and I loved peppers.

Like, eating was probably my favorite part.

I feel like everybody is born a farmer, like, but it just you have to put out of yourself and like, become it.

We consider ourselves farmers in progress.

To find out more about sustainable local agriculture and how you can get support for an urban garden, check out the USDA website.

USDA Dot gov slash People's Garden throughout our season, we've brought you stories from coast to coast and from oceans to the deserts.

As a wildlife biologist, I can dig deep into the issues like efforts to conserve the greater sage grouse, where science and data play a major role for other stories like the one we brought to you today from outdoor Afro.

It's the dedicated people who play the starring role.

Let's hear what motivates the people we've met this season.

I would just invite people to think about their sphere of influence.

Think about the young people and the older people in your life who you can introduce in a compelling way with a standing invitation to connect with nature.

I think it is incredibly rewarding to work in areas where you're truly breathing life back into a stream or a river that, you know, when I was born wasn't sustaining life.

Grandma worked.

Really hard of our hard sweat.

And tears to make it possible for me to live here and just to divide it up and sell it for money, I think is.

Just really wrong.

I've seen the whales out there and we should give them some kind of respect.

You know, we're going the extra mile to try to sustain the fisheries and the wildlife to lose.

This is a really damning statement on us to know that we are not taking care of this resource.

We're losing part of America's heart.

What gives me hope is that so many people are involved in trying to conserve this species.

We have to be the voice for the animals that are part of our large ecosystem family in order to help protect them and make sure that they can continue to exist and thrive.

I feel like I'm so honored to be in the presence of people that overcome obstacles and bond together and help each other.

So it means that you are take care and your giver.

When you take something, you're supposed to give it back.

Something there.

That's the bad.

Stuff that we want to get rid of.

And when you can actually see the results and it's very visible, we know and it's nice to hear from the community around.

And my neighbors, they're glad and they're appreciative of what we do.

One of our roles and we kind of just assumed is for all the trials that we use, we make sure they're clear in the spring.

It's a good for us to give back and say, Hey, look, we care more about public lands than just making our living here.

It can sometimes feel pretty futile that we're trying to keep it clean and is because we're all out there and we're making an impact.

And if we're not trying to minimize that, we're going to love the places to death.

They're really happy that we installed these and we got them running water.

So the guys came in and they finished.

And they showed me how to do it.

And I was excited and excited to press that button.

We'll see.

I think it's a humbling experience.

We're supposed to do that.

I shouldn't have to have people think me.

We're all supposed to be helping each other.

It's definitely something that I appreciate and I take home with me and thinking like, Yes, I did.

I did something good today for somebody.

We've never been involved in litigation.

It was going to take the federal government, the state government, the academics, the local landowners, the the non-profits, the volunteers.

The last thing you want to do is just make enemies right off the bat.

There are challenges, too, to be able to work when you have multiple interests on a piece of ground.

You know what's more important?

A species or my livelihood?

That's a hard question to answer.

So what I try to do is find other ways so we're not pitting them against each other.

That's the only way we'll make this work here for this species and for a lot of other things across the West.

Here's a look at what's coming up in our next show.

Since grass is really good at taking carbon dioxide out of the air and storing it in fat, biomass.

Growing faith and fighting climate change, farms feeling the heat are now part of the solution.

It's not just a win for farmers, it's a win for the whole world.

Next time on this American land.

Thanks for joining us.

Be sure to check us out on social media.

We'll see you next time on this American Land.

For more information about this program, check out our YouTube channel and watch us on PBS Passport.

Funding for this American land provided by the Walton Family Foundation, an.