River Stakeholders
Colorado River Water Use Highlights:
Southern Nevada's Water Footprint
Southern Nevada, the economic engine of Nevada, is home to a majority of the state's population but uses only a small portion of Nevada's available water.
Southern Nevada Resorts
While Nevada faces another year of Tier 1 shortage conditions, our region’s resourcefulness, including high-efficiency indoor recycling and successful conservation programming, equip our community to withstand shortages.
Already a world leader in conservation programming, the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) continues to advance both regulatory and incentive programs designed to realize water savings and conservation gains from every sector of our community.
In 2025, the SNWA Board of Directors increased incentives to remove decorative grass for Southern Nevada’s homeowners. With 70 percent of our residential community already embracing low-water, desert-adapted plants and trees, thanks to the legacy of the Water Smart Landscapes Rebate Program, the increased incentives are designed to maximize participation in this pivotal next year. The SNWA continues to work with businesses throughout the community to eliminate decorative grass, ahead of a state mandate prohibiting the use of Colorado River water to irrigate nonfunctional turf beginning in 2027. Since 1999, our community has replaced more than 241 million square feet of grass with water-efficient landscaping, saving more than 203 billion gallons of water.
The SNWA also partners with the business community to incorporate waterefficient technologies, such as evaporative cooling alternatives, into industries from casinos to warehouses. Evaporative cooling represents the second largest use of water in Southern Nevada. In 2023, a moratorium on evaporative cooling installation in new commercial and industrial buildings went into effect, complemented by incentive programs to replace existing systems. Major conversion projects completed over the last year are projected to save more than 116 million gallons of water.
Another ongoing pillar of Southern Nevada sustainability is community empowerment and education. Residents are encouraged to identify and repair household leaks utilizing online tutorials and videos as well as report water waste in the community via mobile apps. With the installation of smart metering technology, more than 24,000 leak notifications were distributed to enrolled customers since a voluntary early leak notification system was introduced. SNWA member agencies manage a variety of leak assistance programs to help cover the cost of locating and repairing leaks that might otherwise go unaddressed. Programs are tailored with added financial assistance and subsidized repairs for low-income eligible households to ensure the most vulnerable members of our community are served.
Conservation measures across all sectors have led to a 55 percent decline in per-capita water use between 2002 and 2024, even as Southern Nevada’s population grew by about 829,000 residents in that same period.
Water Quality also remains a top priority, with SNWA’s Research & Development team celebrating its 25th anniversary of pioneering water quality research. The R&D team has developed patented technology and published more than 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts across five different scientific journals that have resulted in 25,000 citations. The team’s history of accomplishments was recently featured in the prestigious Journal of American Water Works Association. The SNWA’s 50,000 square feet Applied Research and Development Center, which houses one of the world’s most sophisticated municipal water-quality laboratory complexes, is slated for additional expansion to further its research capabilities. The center is one of the few that combines research and water-quality testing under the same roof.
The Water Authority continues to invest in regional infrastructure to proactively ensure water quality and system reliability amid declining Lake Mead water levels. Long-term planning and investment in water resources are reflected in the SNWA’s 50-year Water Resource Plan, updated annually to project permanent, temporary and future resources in its water resource portfolio. The 2025 plan included conservation strategies and successes to date toward a conservation goal of 86 GPCD by 2035. Meeting the challenges that lie ahead will require significant and ongoing adaptive management efforts. If the last year is any indication, which demonstrated a continued decrease in community water use when compared to the previous 3-year low average, Southern Nevada is leading the way in resilient water stewardship, as drought and long-term aridification continue to stress water supplies.