Water Summit attendees discuss Colorado River, Lake Mead water resources

Dropping Lake Mead levels, climate change, and the future of water availability from the Colorado River is what was discussed at the 2nd annual Water Summit Wednesday at Springs Preserve.

“Nevada is 3% of the river as far as allocation, but the impacts and the influence that this state has on the management of the river cannot be understated. Especially when you practice what you preach on water conservation," Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton, said while addressing the crowd at the summit.

Camille Touton joined Congresswoman Susie Lee and SNWA to tout collaboration efforts between states after Lake Mead reached critically low levels in 2022 . Last year, Nevada joined Arizona and California in an agreement to conserve an additional 3 million acre-feet of water until 2026.

“The good news is, it’s not where we were two years ago," Touton said.

While conservation efforts and a wet 2023 have improved the short-term outlook for Lake Mead, right now, the reservoir sits at about 33% capacity. The 2025 water availability forecast for the Colorado River will be released by the Department of Interior soon and possible cuts may be included .

“There’s generally a concern about water and about climate change. I mean we’ve seen 120-degree days here in Southern Nevada," Congresswoman Lee said. "But more importantly people are seeing the impacts of the investments that we’ve been able to make.”

Conservation programs like the SNWA Grass Conversion Rebate is being taken advantage of by locals like Michael Howie.

“6,600 square feet of lawn removed and replaced with desert landscaping which was payed for by the Southern Nevada Water Authority Conservation Project. They have a rebate of $5 dollars a square foot, they put in a bunch of plants and trees," Howie said.

Howie said the changes to Las Vegas water availability are obvious.

"I’ve been here since the 70s since water was overflowing the dam. You look at the bathtub ring, the water levels, the groundwaters not getting any higher, precipitation is down, climate change is a real thing — look at this last summer it was almost unbearable — so yea we have to live like we’re in the desert," Howie said.