Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Nevada takes federal government to court over Colorado River water use plan Nevada is suing over cuts the Trump administration has mandated it take in its Colorado River use. The suit alleges that Nevada faces an unfair burden compared to other states in water restrictions. National Nevada takes federal government to court over Colorado River water use plan August 25, 20264:43 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition By Paul Boger Nevada takes federal government to court over Colorado River water use plan Listen · 2:38 2:38 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5943593/nx-s1-9899386" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript Nevada is suing over cuts the Trump administration has mandated it take in its Colorado River use. The suit alleges that Nevada faces an unfair burden compared to other states in water restrictions. Sponsor Message Transcript
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Nevada is suing the Trump administration over a plan to limit how much water it can use from the Colorado River. The state is the most arid in the country, and cities like Las Vegas are almost entirely reliant on the Colorado River for water. Under new rules from the Department of the Interior, Nevada is facing drastic cuts to that supply. KNPR's Paul Boger reports on the lawsuit.
PAUL BOGER, BYLINE: Under the new regulations, Arizona, California and Nevada have to cut the amount of water they get from the Colorado River by 20% over the next two years. The other states along the river - Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming - are not facing mandatory cuts. According to the suit, the reduction unfairly slashes Nevada's legal right to 1.8% of the river water a year. John Ensminger oversees the Southern Nevada Water Authority. He says all states reliant on the river need to come to terms with the dwindling water supply in the Colorado River Basin.
JOHN ENTSMINGER: I think our ultimate goal is to have basin-wide solutions for a basin-wide problem. And that may sound a little cliche, but you're looking at a river system that takes care of seven states and two countries.
BOGER: The Interior Department did not respond to requests for comment. Nevada already gets the smallest allotment of any state on the river. In an effort to protect that supply, SNWA has aggressively worked to conserve water. According to the utility, nearly every drop of water that goes down the drain is recycled and put back into the river. The state has also banned watering ornamental grass for nonresidential properties across Southern Nevada. Entsminger says the new rules essentially ignore all of that work.
ENTSMINGER: The municipal area that's been the world leader in urban water conservation - it's almost like we're not getting any credit for what we've done in the last 25 years and instead are being asked to take a larger percentage than any other state.
BOGER: Ultimately, Nevada is asking a judge to throw out the Interior Department's entire 2027 to 2036 framework for the Colorado River. But for those who study the river, something needs to be done soon. Elizabeth Koebele researches water policy at the University of Nevada, Reno.
ELIZABETH KOEBELE: If it's not a good set of rules and it doesn't fairly treat the actors in the basin, then, yes, it should be reconsidered. But we also probably need to figure out how to take some emergency measures in the short term to keep the system from crashing.
BOGER: Currently, the state of Nevada, the Southern Nevada Water Authority and the Colorado River Commission of Nevada are the suit's only plaintiffs. Water officials in California and Arizona, on the other hand, have been more accepting of the new terms for this two-year plan but haven't agreed to any cuts beyond that.
For NPR News, I'm Paul Boger in Reno.
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