The population of the State of Nevada has increased substantially over the last three decades. Between 1960 and 1990 the statewide population increased 237 percent. In 2003 the state population reached an estimated 2,296,566. The 2003 population for Clark County, which contains Las Vegas, was estimated at 1,620,748, and Washoe County, which contains Reno, had a population estimated at 373,233.
The Nevada State Demographer's Office has completed a new 20-year forecast for the State of Nevada and its counties. It is expected that the state will have a total population of 3,003,614 by the year 2013.
Population growth will be based primarily in the urban areas of the state and particularly in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas. If Clark County growth keeps up its expected pace, its population will grow from 1.62 million persons to 2.22 million in 2013. Washoe County, which includes Reno, the other major urban area of the state, is expected to grow from 373 thousand persons to 432 thousand in 2013.
In 1990 the two most populous counties of Clark and Washoe comprised 83 percent of the total state population. In 2003 the same two counties accounted for 87 percent of the total state population. In 2013 it is estimated that these two counties will account for 88.5 percent of the statewide population.
The State of Nevada has three jurisdictions which manage their own air programs by designation through the Nevada State Legislature. The Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP), Bureau of Air Quality Planning (BAQP) is responsible for air quality surveillance in all areas of the state other than Clark and Washoe Counties. Clark and Washoe Counties operate independent monitoring networks and publish annual monitoring reports. The exception to our independent monitoring programs is that the NDEP has air quality jurisdiction, including ambient air quality monitoring, statewide over fossil fuel-fired steam generating units (power plants). In addition to these three major monitoring networks, air quality monitoring is being conducted through the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) network by federal land management agencies. There are two IMPROVE sites in Nevada, one at Great Basin National Park, Lehman Caves, along the eastern border of the state near Baker and the other at Jarbidge Wilderness Area in northeastern Nevada. Select the appropriate link from the left for web addresses to these various networks.
By multiagency cooperative agreement, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) conducts ambient air quality monitoring on both the California and Nevada sides of the Lake Tahoe hydrographic basin. On the Nevada side of the basin, this has included monitoring for CO at Stateline and O3, PM10 and PM2.5 at Cave Rock.
The National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) published by the EPA in 40 CFR Part 50 define the levels of air quality necessary to protect human health and welfare. An area is considered to be in nonattainment for a pollutant if it has violated the NAAQS (generally, more than one exceedance of the NAAQS annually) for that pollutant. The state air quality standards can be found in Nevada Administrative Code (NAC) 445B.22097.
During the period of this report, areas under the jurisdiction of NDEP/BAQP were unclassifiable/attainment for all criteria pollutants, including the national park and wilderness area, with two exceptions.
First, the EPA classified as nonattainment for CO the portions of Douglas, Carson City, and Washoe counties inside the hydrographic basin containing Lake Tahoe. This classification is based on monitoring done at Stateline in the 1970's. The state requested redesignation of the Nevada side of the Lake Tahoe hydrographic basin into attainment of the carbon monoxide standards and has submitted a limited maintenance plan to the EPA. The EPA published a final rule effective February 13, 2004 redesignating the Lake Tahoe Nevada area attainment for CO and approving the limited maintenance plan.
Secondly, a portion of the Pahrump Valley, in Nye County, is in nonattainment for PM10. The EPA, State, Pahrump Town Board and Nye County have agreed to use a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to address the nonattainment classification. The MOU was signed in September 2003, giving the cooperative agencies until 2009 to bring the area back into attainment. Control strategies must be in place by 2006 and must remain in place to ensure that the Pahrump Valley will continue to attain the standards in the future.
Clark County and Washoe County have areas in nonattainment for various criteria pollutants. Check each county's web site for additional information and updated status of nonattainment areas.
Ambient air monitoring stations in this report fall into two categories:
1) State and Local Air Monitoring Stations (SLAMS)
2) Special Purpose Monitoring Stations (SPMS)
Some sites may represent both of these categories.
The SLAMS sites are the long-term air quality monitoring stations located throughout the state. They are operated either by the state or by a local agency. Most air quality monitoring data are generated at SLAMS sites.
The SPMS sites are established to determine the air quality of a relatively small area or to monitor on a temporary basis. These sites usually operate for six to 24 months, and are generally used to measure air quality in areas not previously monitored. They are also established to monitor the effects of a specific air pollution source on the surrounding air quality.
A site description for each ambient air sampling station will be found under the town their located in (go to the Monitoring Data page and click on the map). Aerometric Information Retrieval System (AIRS) site numbers can be found in the Data Availability page. Monitoring data may not be available for all the monitoring stations for all the years in the report period.
The principal ambient air pollutants, based on public health concerns, have been identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as "criteria" pollutants. One of these pollutants, lead, has not been a widespread ambient air quality concern since the removal of lead from gasoline. The criteria pollutants of ambient air-carbon monoxide, lead, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and suspended particulate matter as PM10 and PM2.5-are discussed below.
Select a criteria pollutant below for information.
| Carbon Monoxide | Lead | Ozone |
| Nitrogen Dioxide | Sulfur Dioxide | Particulate Matter |
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