With a recent water shortage declaration on the Colorado River still fresh in mind—and with summer’s heat giving way to fall’s cooler temperatures—residents and businesses in Southern Nevada can do their part to conserve our community’s water supply by changing their irrigation clocks to comply with mandatory fall seasonal watering restrictions, in effect through Oct. 31.
Under the mandatory restrictions, drip irrigation is permitted up to three days a week, but drip-irrigated water-efficient trees and plants need less water than grass and can survive and thrive if watered less often. Sunday watering is prohibited all year.
Watering on days other than those assigned to your address or allowing water to spray or flow off your property is considered water waste and may result in a water-waste fee. Water waste investigators are patrolling the community to enforce city and county ordinances that prohibit water waste. For residential customers, water waste fines range from $40 to $80 or higher for repeated violations.
To find your assigned watering days, visit snwa.com.
The seasonal restrictions take on added significance this year following the announcement by the federal government of a shortage declaration on the Colorado River. The shortage declaration, coupled with other Colorado River water-saving agreements, reduces the amount of water Southern Nevada can withdraw from Lake Mead by 21,000-acre feet—about 7 billion gallons—beginning in 2022. Lake Mead is the source of 90 percent of the community’s water. If every property in Southern Nevada follows the seasonal water restriction year-round, our community will save more than 7 billion gallons annually.
In addition to following the seasonal restrictions, residents and businesses throughout Southern Nevada also can do their part to save water by reporting water waste to their local provider and converting unused, non-functional grass landscapes to water-efficient, drip-irrigated plants, trees and shrubs through the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s Water Smart Landscapes Rebate program (WSL). To enroll in WSL and for more information, visit snwa.com.
Members of the editorial and news staff of the Las Vegas Review-Journal were not involved in the creation of this content.
