LAS VEGAS KLAS — The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced on Thursday that a Tier 1 water shortage will continue into 2025. This decision is based on a two-year forecast of lake levels for Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the country’s largest reservoirs. Officials concluded that stricter water use restrictions won’t be necessary next year. Tier 1 represents the least severe water shortage level.
Under Tier 1, Southern Nevada will receive 279,000 acre-feet of water from the Colorado River, which is 21,000 acre-feet less than the usual 300,000 acre-feet — a 7% reduction. This allocation is the same as for 2024. An acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons, enough to supply two to three households for a year.
Nevada has successfully reduced its water usage through conservation efforts and hasn’t used its full allocation in recent years. In 2023, the state used only about 188,000 acre-feet.
California will continue to receive its full allocation of 4.4 million acre-feet, as Tier 1 reductions don’t affect the state’s senior water rights. Arizona will receive about 1.9 million acre-feet, an 18% reduction from its full 2.4 million acre-foot allocation. Mexico will also see a reduction, losing 80,000 acre-feet, or 5% of its usual share.
Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton highlighted that the Colorado River System is improving due to investments in water conservation and infrastructure through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. These funds help local, state, and Tribal communities address climate change and drought.
However, some conservation groups criticized the Bureau’s optimism. Eric Balken, executive director of the Glen Canyon Institute, expressed concerns, saying that one or two bad winters could bring Lake Powell and Lake Mead back to crisis levels.
Record snowpack in 2023 helped refill these reservoirs, which had dropped to about 25% capacity due to the ongoing drought that began in 2000.
Touton was in Las Vegas for the 2024 Water Summit, hosted by U.S. Rep. Susie Lee. At the summit, she praised Nevada’s water conservation efforts, which include grass removal rebates and water recycling programs. The Southern Nevada Water Authority is also working to connect homes to the sewer system by eliminating septic tanks.
Despite these efforts, some experts believe the Bureau’s optimistic projections could mislead the public, particularly during what has been the hottest 12-month period on record. Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network, argued that these short-term reports could create false hope and overlook the possibility of future dry years.
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