Many fear help for Nevada water conservation will dry up under Trump

Despite billions from the Inflation Reduction Act going to benefit Nevada, President-elect Donald Trump and conservative fiscal hawks may pursue a partial or full repeal once Trump takes office, according to lawmakers. 

As a series of wildfires in Southern California in recent days have illustrated the devastating impacts of a historic decades-long drought caused by climate change, federal officials last week unveiled billions in new funding to bolster water conservation efforts in neighboring Nevada and throughout the West.

On Friday, the US Bureau of Reclamation said at a news conference in Las Vegas it was awarding $60 million to the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) for its Water Smart Landscapes Rebate initiative. The program launched in 1999 to help homeowners cover the costs of converting their grass lawns to desert landscaping, and so far has helped convert more than 232 million square-feet of lawn to water-efficient landscaping and conserve approximately 189 billion gallons of water since the program’s inception. 

The new influx of funding is expected to help cover the costs of an additional 23 million square-feet in landscape conversions, which could ultimately help conserve roughly 190,000 acre-feet of water use annually — about two-thirds of the state’s yearly allotment from the Colorado River.

“Since nearly all of our indoor water is making its way back to Lake Mead, investments we can make to reduce our outdoor water use are the most meaningful for this community,” said Colby Pellegrino, SNWA’s deputy general manager of resources. “This is a really important investment.”

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News of the funding comes days after President Joe Biden signed into law a bill with provisions to authorize more than $29 million in funding for improvements to the Big Bend Water District’s water treatment and delivery systems in Laughlin, as well as up to $60 million in funding to support the Las Vegas Wash. Reclamation also announced last week it had awarded the SNWA an additional $2.1 million to bolster wildlife conservation along the Las Vegas Wash and the Warm Springs Natural Area, roughly 40 miles northwest of Las Vegas. 

“This represents all levels of government working together in such an important and constructive fashion,” Nevada Democratic US Rep. Susie Lee told reporters at Friday’s event. “And it’s this type of work that sets us apart, and it’s this level of commitment that will help us continue to protect our most valuable resource of water in the Colorado River Basin.”

The funds are sourced from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a sprawling spending package that has sent billions to Nevada to bolster drought mitigation efforts and bolster renewable energy supply chains. Perhaps Biden’s crowning legislative achievement, President-elect Donald Trump and conservative fiscal hawks have vowed to repeal some or all of the IRA. 

That would leave many agencies and other recipients of the funding in Limbo, as billions have already been awarded but not yet paid out. Funding is typically awarded by executive branch agencies through grants, but as the incoming Trump administration gets ready to assume the White House later this month, it’s not clear to the extent how much of the IRA’s funding could be rescinded if a repeal were enacted. 

That even includes drought mitigation projects throughout the West and other critical infrastructure upgrades, Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nevada) told The Nevadan. 

“Even though this money has been appropriated and designated and the agreements have been made, you’d like to see it out the door quickly because who knows what this new administration and the DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) commission may try to pull it back.”

Lee added that agencies have been trying to dispense funding to awardees like SNWA as quickly as possible before the new administration takes office and could possibly rescind it. 

“We have heard that this administration, and the Republican Congress basically say that they are going after the Inflation Reduction Act,” Lee said. “So making sure we’re getting these investments working now is going to be so vitally important to achieve the goals we had with the Inflation Reduction Act, which is combatting climate change.” 

Friday’s announcement will go a long way in the state’s water conservation goals, as the drought has caused water levels from the Colorado River — which provides drinking water for roughly 40 million people across seven states, numerous tribal governments, and parts of Mexico — to reach historic lows in recent years. 

Water levels have somewhat rebounded over the past two years, with the most recent estimates showing Lake Mead elevation this month up about 20 feet compared to this time in 2022. Still, Lake Mead currently sits at about 33% capacity, and more work will be needed by all river users to help preserve its viability in the decades to come.

Nevada and California, along with Arizona, make up the Lower Colorado River Basin, and together have agreed to conserve a cumulative 3 million acre feet through 2026, when a temporary agreement dictating water rights during dry times is tentatively set to expire. Meanwhile, officials from the Upper Basin states — Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico have argued the more populous Lower Basin states should brunt the bulk of the water cuts. 

The federal government to date has leveraged nearly $13 billion from the IIJA and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act to invest in water conservation and drought mitigation technologies across the west. It’s not yet clear if more cuts will be needed in the future, but federal and state governments are continuing to negotiate new agreements that would dictate how water from the Colorado River is allocated for 2026 and beyond.

But should the states fail to come to an agreement by an August 2026 deadline to come up with a new water use agreement, federal officials may impose another interim fix that Pellegrino said neither side would like. 

“Continuing to double down on water conservation is what all water managers in the Colorado River Basin need to be doing. We can fight over who is responsible, we can fight over who takes the first cut … but at the end of the day, everyone is going to use less water, whether we decide it, whether a court decides it, or whether mother nature decides it.”