WASHINGTON, March 22, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- MGM Resorts
International (NYSE: MGM) Senior Vice President & Chief
Sustainability Officer Cindy Ortega
testified today before the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Committee at a hearing on the 2018 Western water supply
outlook.
Ortega's testimony provided a business perspective on Western
water issues and highlighted MGM Resorts' sustainability efforts
and role as a global leader in building and sustaining communities.
All told, the company's environmentally responsible practices have
saved approximately 1.2 billion gallons of water.
Video of the hearing can be found here. Included below are
several key excerpts, followed by the full remarks and additional
background information on MGM Resorts' sustainability efforts and
leadership:
EXCERPTS
"One of the core values of MGM Resorts
International is that we take a strong, proactive role building and
sustaining the communities in which we work and live. Everyone in
the desert southwest relies on the Colorado River and we are all
responsible for supporting the health of the Colorado River, Lake
Mead, and the life-sustaining water they hold."
"We are determined to lead by example. As a
company, we are always exploring new solutions to help conserve our
natural resources. Our commitment to being a global leader in
sustainability and stewardship of the environment is embodied from
top to bottom throughout our company. All told, the company's
environmentally responsible practices have saved approximately 1.2
billion gallons of water."
"These investments in water efficiency have
obviously not come without some extra expenditures on the part of
MGM, but what we have experienced is that they have actually
attracted more businesses to our properties. Our investments are
paying dividends as like-minded people who share a commitment to
building and sustaining the communities in which we work and live
choose to do business with us."
"To ensure that future generations have precious
water, we must all work together. We will need more partnerships.
Through work with state and local partners like the Southern Nevada
Water Authority we have been able to forge a path forward.
Nevada and Las Vegas have led the way on water recycling,
storage, efficiency, and managing water to maximize its
usefulness."
"We encourage the federal government to support
initiatives that help keep more water in the Colorado River Basin
as well as collaborative work with states, with matching funds, and
technical assistance. That would help not only Nevada, but everyone throughout the entire
Colorado River Basin."
FULL REMARKS
Chairwoman Murkowski, Ranking Member Cantwell, and Members of
the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify on the
critical subject of the 2018 Western Water Supply Outlook. I am
Cindy Ortega, Senior Vice President
and Chief Sustainability Officer for MGM Resorts International.
MGM Resorts International (MGM) is a global entertainment
company headquartered in the middle of the Mojave Desert,
Las Vegas, Nevada. MGM owns and
operates 28 destination properties across the United States and internationally. Our
company is recognized in Las
Vegas, across the globe, and right here in the D.C.
metropolitan area with our National Harbor property for offering
best-in-class hotels and casinos, state-of-the-art meetings and
conference spaces, incredible live entertainment experiences, and
an extensive array of restaurant, nightlife and retail
offerings.
Today is a bit of a homecoming for MGM Resorts International.
The Las Vegas our employees call
home would not exist without the foresight by one of the
predecessors of this Committee: The Irrigation and Reclamation
Committee. In 1928, that Committee and the 70th Congress passed the
Boulder Canyon Project Act.
This year we celebrate the 90th anniversary of the law that gave
rise to Hoover Dam and subsequently Lake Mead, the largest
reservoir in the country. These actions provided some of the
critical ingredients necessary for Las
Vegas to grow, focused national attention on Nevada, and it was our first major tourist
attraction.
I doubt your predecessors on the Irrigation and Reclamation
Committee would have predicted that Hoover Dam and Lake Mead would
have helped create the Las Vegas
we call home. But today, Las Vegas
is the world's preeminent entertainment destination with more than
42 million annual visitors. So, on behalf of MGM Resorts
International, let me extend a very heartfelt thank you.
Many things have changed in Las
Vegas since concrete was poured in Boulder Canyon for Hoover
Dam. We have gone from Elvis and Frank
Sinatra to Bruno Mars and
Cirque du Soleil. In 1950, the population of Las Vegas was 25,000 and the population of
Clark County was 48,000. Today,
MGM alone employs more than 50,000 people in Las Vegas and Clark
County's population is 2.1 million.
Despite all the changes, one thing has remained the same.
Las Vegas relies almost
completely—approximately 90 percent—on Lake Mead for our water.
Lake Mead benefits California and
Arizona since they store water in
it as well—but it is Southern
Nevada's water supply.
Given our strong reliance on this reservoir and our shared stake
in its future, we have taken note of the impacts the prolonged
drought has had on Lake Mead. The 15 years of Western drought has
dropped Lake Mead to some of its lowest levels since the Great
Depression. The Lake has not been full in three decades. The
heart-rending visual of the bathtub rings that now encircle Lake
Mead continually remind us of the inextricable tie between Mother
Nature and our communities.
The hydrologic numbers on the greater Colorado River system are
equally evident. From 2000 to 2016, the Department of Interior
reports the Colorado River basin experienced drought conditions
that resulted in the lowest period of inflows in over a century of
record keeping. The Department of Interior also reports that as a
result of the drought and declining reservoir levels, Lake Mead
reached its lowest elevation in July
2016 since it began to be filled in the 1930s.
One of the core values of MGM Resorts International is that we
take a strong, proactive role building and sustaining the
communities in which we work and live. Everyone in the desert
southwest relies on the Colorado River and we are all responsible
for supporting the health of the Colorado River, Lake Mead, and the
life-sustaining water they hold.
To ensure that future generations have precious water, we must
all work together. We will need more partnerships. Through work
with state and local partners like the Southern Nevada Water
Authority we have been able to forge a path forward. Nevada and Las
Vegas have led the way on water recycling, storage,
efficiency, and managing water to maximize its usefulness.
Nevada is proud that despite
the fact that southern Nevada is
only entitled to 2 percent of the Colorado River's water, we use
that water over and over. Las
Vegas returns nearly every gallon of water used indoors back
to Lake Mead so it can be used again. Simply put, the growth of
Las Vegas, in combination with
this persistent drought, has forced Las
Vegas to innovate, to make major investments in water
infrastructure, and to value water in our business decisions like
never before.
We are proud of our record because Nevada has been able to work through the
current drought and the prospect of water shortages, but if we fail
to reverse current trends, or fail to work together, we might not
be so lucky in the future. In order to prepare our communities for
the future, we need a coordinated response to the ongoing drought
and a long-term plan for ensuring we have adequate water
sources.
We know business is part of that equation. States and local
water managers must take the lead on supplying water to homes and
businesses. The federal government should play a supporting role by
investing and maintaining infrastructure, helping to plan for
improved water security, and by promoting conservation.
To prepare our communities for the future, states and businesses
must collaborate in preparing and implementing long-term solutions
for adequate water sources because the burdens and challenges are
mounting. MGM Resorts has recognized the growing need for action.
We are determined to lead by example. As a company, we are always
exploring new solutions to help conserve our natural resources. Our
commitment to being a global leader in sustainability and
stewardship of the environment is embodied from top to bottom
throughout our company. All told, the company's environmentally
responsible practices have saved approximately 1.2 billion gallons
of water.
Across all MGM Resorts properties, we have implemented
sustainable practices that include linen reuse programs, water
conservation while cleaning, low-flow fixtures, food-thawing
procedures, and policies such as filling dishwashers to capacity.
Those are important measures, but they really are the low-hanging
fruit in the effort to conserve water.
At MGM Grand Las Vegas, 100 percent of the property exterior
irrigation and 60 percent of property cooling tower water needs are
provided by well water sources. Just south of the MGM Grand, at the
Mandalay Bay Shark Reef Aquarium, 90 percent of the Shark Reef
water is reused and recycled, resulting in over 2.1 million gallons
of reclaimed water annually.
The iconic Lake Bellagio uses no water from Lake Mead. Rather it
and all Bellagio property irrigation are replenished from
underground wells that are on site. This results in the
conservation of domestic, potable water equivalent to the annual
usage of 5,000 average residential pools.
When MGM built CityCenter, from the ground up we built in a
range of state of the art water and energy efficiency measures into
City Center's entire campus. The results have been exceptional and
have enabled the entire development to save more than 50 million
gallons of water each year. I welcome the Members of this Committee
to visit and see firsthand the good work we have done in this area
at CityCenter.
In April 2016, MGM opened The
Park, an immersive outdoor dining and entertainment experience
connecting New York-New York,
Monte Carlo and the new T-Mobile
Arena. The new destination reflects MGM's all-encompassing
commitment to environmental sustainability from design and
construction through to ongoing operations.
We envisioned The Park as a microcosm of the beautiful Mojave
Desert which surrounds Las Vegas.
We brought sustainability to life in the heart of the Las Vegas
Strip. The Park features Mojave Desert vegetation including agave
and yucca, and tree species such as Palo
Verde, Acacias and Mesquites. All of these species are
drought tolerant and can thrive in the desert.
We added point-source drippers that conserve 72 percent more
water than traditional sprinklers and anemometers which monitor
wind speeds and regulate the flow of fountains so when the wind
picks up, the water features can be shut down. These features and
the water savings technologies across that campus will save
millions of gallons of water each year.
These investments in water efficiency have obviously not come
without some extra expenditures on the part of MGM, but what we
have experienced is that they have actually attracted more
businesses to our properties. Our investments are paying dividends
as like-minded people who share a commitment to building and
sustaining the communities in which we work and live choose to do
business with us.
Beyond our investments, MGM Resorts International seeks to
inspire our employees, and the rest of the Las Vegas community, to use less water when
they are at work and at home. Part of that effort includes the use
of MY Green Advantage, an online, social application that
challenges and encourages our employees to make smarter choices
with environmental responsibility in mind.
This is important because no matter how many gallons of savings
they can achieve at work—they can make a greater impact at their
homes and with their families since residential water use comprises
59 percent of Southern Nevada's
consumption, with resorts consuming 7 percent.
We have been inspired by their results. In 2018, our employees
have completed over five million green actions. Collectively, our
employees have saved over 298 million gallons of water (enough to
fill 453 Olympic swimming pools) since the program launched in
2013.
Even with all the strong local programs and business leadership
to conserve and reuse water, investments in longer-term solutions
as well as water infrastructure are needed. MGM and our competitors
on the Las Vegas Strip are only part of a larger ecosystem of
parties who have a real and substantive interest in the health of
the Colorado River and Lake Mead.
In order to prepare our communities and businesses for the
future, states must collaborate in preparing and implementing
long-term solutions for adequate water sources. We need
collaboration that crosses state and local lines, welcomes business
innovation, and enlists everyone in the battle to preserve our
water resources.
The federal government has a critical role in this effort—and
that role should include work with states and businesses on
solutions that will make our limited precious water supplies
sustainable and to make investments in the infrastructure and water
security programs needed to supply it to our homes and
businesses.
If we do not act, the water level in Lake Mead is going to
become an increasingly important factor in the business decisions
not only in Nevada, but across the
West. And just as we have tried to incorporate a holistic approach
to water issues, we hope Congress and federal agencies will look
for a holistic approach as well.
We encourage the Federal government to support initiatives that
help keep more water in the Colorado River Basin as well as
collaborative work with states, with matching funds, and technical
assistance. That would help not only Nevada, but everyone throughout the entire
Colorado River Basin.
We hope Congress and federal agencies will support efforts that
improve water security and the related infrastructure needed to
deliver it to homes and businesses. Take the new intake pipe which
the Southern Nevada Water Authority finished constructing in 2015.
It is an engineering marvel that emerges from underneath Lake Mead
to access the water, rather than at an angle like the previous
intake pipes, and works similar to a bathtub drain. It is important
because if Lake Mead's elevation keeps falling, the new intake will
ensure Nevada will still have
access to its water supply. That's progress and water security.
Benjamin Franklin once said,
"When the well's dry, we know the worth of water." We are all here
fighting to keep that well from going dry.
Today's hearing is a positive step in that effort and hopefully
future attention on this issue will keep us focused in a way that
will produce positive results.
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify and I look
forward to your questions.
ABOUT MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY
MGM Resorts International is dedicated to helping protect the
planet. By integrating a comprehensive environmental responsibility
program across its 28 properties and more than 78,000 employees,
the company works to reduce negative impacts on the environment
while continuing to provide a superior guest experience. The
company's approach to environmental responsibility encourages
solutions that continuously improves operational and cost
efficiency, thus increasing shareholder value and competitive
business advantage.
Key focus areas of MGM Resorts Internationals' sustainability
program:
- Energy and Water Conservation
- Green Building
- Sustainable supply chain
- Recycling & waste management
- Employee and guest education re green working and living
To learn more about MGM Resorts International's sustainability
and corporate social responsibility leadership, visit:
mgmresorts.com/csr
ABOUT MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) is an S&P 500® global
entertainment company with national and international locations
featuring best-in-class hotels and casinos, state-of-the-art
meetings and conference spaces, incredible live and theatrical
entertainment experiences, and an extensive array of restaurant,
nightlife and retail offerings. MGM Resorts creates immersive,
iconic experiences through its suite of Las Vegas-inspired brands. The MGM Resorts
portfolio encompasses 28 unique hotel offerings including some of
the most recognizable resort brands in the industry. Expanding
throughout the U.S. and around the world, the company in 2018
opened MGM COTAI in Macau and the
first Bellagio-branded hotel in Shanghai. It also is developing MGM
Springfield in Massachusetts. The
78,000 global employees of MGM Resorts are proud of their company
for being recognized as one of FORTUNE® Magazine's World's Most
Admired Companies®.
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