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Nevada wildlife biologists are lowering Bambi buckets filled with about 200 gallons of water for wild animals to drink, reported the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
There is a six-man crew that is working to refill the water receptacles. Wildlife Game Biologist Pat Cummings explained, "That's about a six-minute turnaround."
Cummings said the wildlife is helping to prevent animal populations from declining.
Cummings said:
"We've had drought conditions before. We have had to haul water on an emergency basis, but not anywhere near approaching this magnitude, this scale of severity. I have been in Southern Nevada since the mid-70s. I remember 2001 and 2002 as being the worst, back-to-back dry years, even worse in 1996. But what we see now is even worse, even worse."
Southern Region game supervisor Joe Bennett said animals have adapted to the dry conditions, but they still need help. Bennett said:
"All animals, especially bighorn sheep, which have evolved to coexist with the desert environment, rely a lot on the vegetation for water."
During the drought, however, the sheep can't find any moisture in the vegetation sources.
So how do these water stations, known as guzzlers, work?
Guzzlers are a "manufactured device designed to collect and store rainwater (and snow) in large tanks."
That water is then made available to wildlife through pipes that deed from the tanks to wildlife through a trough-like drinking system. They're usually located at the base of the mountain.
Because of the drought, water levels are low at the guzzlers, so officials are hauling a whopping 3,000 gallons per day to refill them.