LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Nevada, the driest state in the nation, faces a water crisis in the years to come.
To help save the precious resources for future generations, the governor just signed two bills A.B. 104 and S.B. 36 with bipartisan support including a new, statewide program to pay people to voluntarily give up their water rights.
One would only need to look to Lake Mead to understand that Nevada’s water supply is dwindling while its population is booming. Now those with entitlements to water, like multigenerational ranchers and farmers, can exchange those rights for money.
“In 2022, we really saw Lake Mead hit its all-time low. That was when Lake Mead’s water level actually dropped below intake number one out at Lake Mead, the Southern Nevada Water Authority turned on the low lake level pumping station,” Bronson Mack, Outreach Manager at the Southern Nevada Water Authority described.
In July 2022, Lake Mead was at its lowest: 1040 feet. As of Monday, it is at 1058 feet and dropping.
“Drought and climate change have really taken a toll on the Colorado River Basin. As a result of that, we’ve seen Lake Mead’s water level fall more than 140 feet over the past 20 years. We’re going to see Lake Mead’s water level decline about 10 or 15 feet throughout the rest of this year,” shared Mack.
Leaders must look much further into Nevada’s water future and just passed a water rights retirement bill.
“This was really an effort of a cross section of our state’s interest… Environmental groups, mining interest and agricultural interests. Everybody coming together to craft this legislation,” Mack explained.
The statewide initiative enables groundwater rights holders like agricultural producers to voluntarily retire or give up their claim to water in exchange for cash in areas where use exceeds long-term water availability. Once retired, the rights are permanently removed from use.
“That’s going to help throughout the state to manage groundwater resources and help ensure that you know there isn’t over pumping of aquifers throughout the state,” Mack reported.
While the law has been passed, it is unclear where the money will come to pay those willing to voluntarily give up water rights.
This program has been done on a smaller scale along the Muddy River near Moapa. It is expected over the 10-year life of the statewide program (which ends in 2035) billions of gallons of water will be saved.
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