Southern Nevada Water Authority outlines conservation gains, warns of ongoing Colorado River pressures

Andy Belanger, Director of Public Services for the Southern Nevada Water Authority, told the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources on Presidents Day that the Las Vegas region has reduced per‑person water use substantially while expanding population and tourism. "Our per capita water use has dropped by 58% and our Colorado River consumption is down 42%," Belanger said.

Belanger told members the authority serves about 2.3 million residents and supports a regional service area that includes all water and wastewater agencies in the Las Vegas Valley and Laughlin. He said the authority manages three intakes at Lake Mead, two treatment facilities (the Alfred Merritt Smith Water Treatment Facility and the River Mountains Water Treatment Facility) and large transmission laterals that supply retail providers.

The presentation stressed three broad responses to long‑term Colorado River decline: capital projects to protect access to the river, regionwide conservation policy and incentives, and programs to retain return‑flow credits by routing treated wastewater back to Lake Mead. Belanger said the authority built a third intake and a low‑lake pumping station at Lake Mead at a cost of about $1,500,000,000, funded with local sources, which allows access to the Colorado River at low reservoir levels.

Belanger described policy and program changes that target outdoor consumptive use — notably removal of nonfunctional turf and limits on certain uses. He said the Legislature helped by passing AB 356 (referred to in the presentation as a 2023 bill) that bans nonfunctional grass in all sectors except single‑family residential by 2027. He said about 9,000,000 square feet of non‑single‑family nonfunctional turf was removed last year, the authority's best year to date for that category.

On septic systems, Belanger said the authority has a voluntary septic conversion program (established under AB 220 from the 2023 session) that has converted 23 systems at a cost of roughly $800,000; he added Clark County Water Reclamation District separately has an ARPA grant of $15,000,000 and has converted more than 77 systems. The authority also reported programs that incentivize tree planting linked to landscape conversions (3,400 trees installed under the tree incentive) and rebates for cooling‑system and landscape upgrades.

Committee members pressed for details on specific topics. Assemblymember Jackson asked about golf course participation; Belanger said golf courses have removed turf equivalent to "8 or 9 golf courses worth of turf" over two decades and participate in Water Smart Landscapes rebates. Assemblymember Hansen asked whether trees are installed on private property or public rights of way; Belanger replied the tree incentive tied to landscape conversions places larger trees on private residential properties and that Impact Nevada places trees in low‑income, heat‑sensitive neighborhoods and public right of way when partners are willing.

On return‑flow accounting and the river, Belanger said Southern Nevada's consumptive use is the net of pumpage minus return‑flow credits: "We pump a little more than 500,000 acre‑feet out of the river and we return about 250,000–300,000 acre‑feet back," producing a 2023 consumptive use of 188,000 acre‑feet.

Belanger also discussed limits on new evaporative cooling and pool sizes, noting a regional prohibition on new evaporative cooling installations in large developments and an ordinance that limits new residential pools to 600 square feet. He said the authority offers voluntary incentives for businesses to convert evaporative cooling to mechanical systems.

The presentation underscored continuing risk: Nevada receives less than 2% of Colorado River flows, the river's average flow has been below historical allocations for the past 26 years, and the operating guidelines that govern the river expire in 2026. "This is a math problem that has to be solved," Belanger said, adding that Nevada's small allocation has forced early local action.

The committee did not take formal votes on these briefings. Belanger concluded by answering member questions about outreach, funding spend‑down deadlines and programmatic details.