KSNV: Colorado River water talks loom over annual summit on conservation progress

LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — With high-stakes Colorado River negotiations looming, local and federal leaders gathered in Las Vegas for an annual water summit focused on the region’s conservation progress and what comes next.

A major concern is the push to reach a new water-use agreement between the Upper and Lower Basin states along the Colorado River. John Entsminger, general manager of the Las Vegas Valley Water District and the Southern Nevada Water Authority, said the talks are not going well.

Entsminger described a key dispute in the negotiations over how the river should be divided.

Also hanging over the talks is the Bureau of Reclamation’s final environmental impact study. Former Deputy Interior Secretary Mike Connor, a speaker at the summit, described it as a 10-year framework geared toward a 2-year plan and said the near-term decisions are critical.

Local leaders argued that cuts and conservation efforts should be shared, pointing to decades of reduced water use in Southern Nevada. Since 2000, the region’s population has grown by 58%, while per-capita water use is down 58% and Colorado River water consumption is down 40%.

Entsminger also pointed to Nevada’s allocation and stored reserves.

As negotiations continue, Rep. Susie Lee, who organized the water summit, said the Trump administration is rethinking its funding approach to support conservation efforts.

“In my mind, it was short-sighted to pause that funding because the the crisis is now, the drought is now,” Lee said.

“But now they’re realizing that they need to open up those coffers a little bit and get that money flowing again,” she said.