Water Smarts Podcast

Is Las Vegas running out of water?

January 20, 2021 Colby Pellegrino Season 1 Episode 3
Water Smarts Podcast
Is Las Vegas running out of water?
Show Notes

Las Vegas went 240 consecutive days without rain in 2020, and even for a renowned desert city that relies on the drought-stricken Colorado River, that’s quite a dry spell. Colby Pellegrino, deputy general manager of resources for the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), joins the Water Smarts podcast to discuss how Southern Nevada is weathering the 20-year drought on the Colorado River, which supplies 90 percent of the Las Vegas Valley’s water supply. SNWA is ensuring a sustainable future through conservation, innovation and infrastructure as well as by pursuing partnerships with other river-sharing states to ensure Southern Nevada has a reliable water supply.

According to Pellegrino:

  • “This drought is pretty epic in terms of its length and severity.”

  • “We’re continuing to work cooperatively with our partners on the river to manage drought, manage climate change, be responsible in the uses of the water and create new opportunities and innovative solutions where we can tackle the challenges of the river without having to disturb some of those fundamental agreements that created these river allocation agreements.”

  • “I think conservation is the single most important thing that we can do today and in the foreseeable future to protect our water supply. It makes us more resilient.”

Recommended resources: