Golden Knights, Aviators join Team Lake Mead with new ad campaign

With the help of Las Vegas’ favorite sports teams, the Southern Nevada Water Authority is again asking residents to pay closer attention to how they water their lawns.

In three sets of new advertisements, the Golden Knights, the Las Vegas Aviators and UNLV’s athletics department celebrate Southern Nevadans who commit to the region’s seasonal watering schedules. They also highlight drip irrigation, which uses a smaller trickle to water trees and plants as opposed to sprinklers that water a larger area.

Through the end of 2024, the water authority’s Water Smart Landscape Rebate program will reimburse homeowners $5 per square foot of thirsty grass converted up to 10,000 square feet. After 2024, that dollar amount will go down to $2 per square foot.

“For the sake of the lake — drip it, don’t drown it,” one advertisement says, showing a drip irrigation system.

Lake Mead, fed by the Colorado River, provides about 90 percent of Las Vegas’ water supply.

Each team was paid a different amount to appear in the commercial with a total of $8,600, according to contracts obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The Golden Knights got the biggest paycheck of $2,600, while the Aviators did it for free as a part of a promotional partnership.

Colby Pellegrino, the water authority’s deputy general manager, said in a statement that the campaign is meant to call attention to the rebate program and drip irrigation, but also to help Las Vegans celebrate the hard work they’ve done to conserve water over the past two decades.

“It aims to instill that sense of accomplishment and pride we all feel when we do our part to conserve water,” she said.

Southern Nevadans may begin to notice these ads on TV and social media as soon as this month, with the Aviators commercials to come first. The UNLV campaign, featuring the cheer team and marching band, will run from September through October, while the Golden Knights campaign will run fron November to January.

Contact Alan at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.