KVIG Informative

Nevada became the first state to sue the federal government over its new 10-year Colorado River plan. At stake: whether Southern Nevada loses nearly three-quarters of its already-thin water allocation while four upstream states face no mandatory cuts at all.

The State of Nevada, the Colorado River Commission of Nevada and the Southern Nevada Water Authority filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Nevada, challenging the Department of the Interior’s Record of Decision setting operating rules for Lake Mead and Lake Powell through 2036.

The lawsuit argues the federal plan could eventually cut Nevada’s Colorado River allocation by up to 71%, reducing the state’s 300,000 acre-foot entitlement to as little as roughly 86,500 acre-feet, while Upper Basin states Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming face no mandatory reductions under the same plan.

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Gov. Joe Lombardo announced the lawsuit directly, saying in a statement that Southern Nevada represents about two-thirds of the state’s population and the majority of its economy, and calling the fight a matter of survival rather than political posturing. He said the Department of the Interior cannot resolve the entire Colorado River shortage on the backs of the Lower Basin states alone.

John Entsminger, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, said the state has already demonstrated its ability to adapt with less, pointing to a roughly 40% reduction in Colorado River water use across Southern Nevada over the past 25 years through measures including removing decorative grass and banning new front-yard lawns.

The lawsuit states the federal government’s analysis failed to account for how deep cuts would affect Nevada’s bond ratings, borrowing costs, tree canopy loss that could worsen urban heat, and increased rate pressure on water customers.

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Lake Mead currently sits at about 27% of capacity and Lake Powell at about 23%, according to federal reservoir data, after 26 years of drought conditions intensified by climate change. Federal forecasters project Lake Mead could fall near or below 1,000 feet in elevation by summer 2028 — at least 35 feet below its current level.

Entsminger said Nevada would rather negotiate than litigate, and that state officials still hope for a seven-state agreement. But after years of blown deadlines between the Lower and Upper Basin states, Nevada is no longer waiting for that agreement to arrive — it filed first, and the outcome of this lawsuit will determine how much water Las Vegas has to work with for the next decade.