John Locher / AP
A bathtub ring on the rocks surrounding Lake Mead shows its declining water level on March 6, 2023. The reservoir, which in 2000 had been nearly full, now stands at just 28% of full capacity. Runoff this spring and summer from above-average snowpack in the Rockies should raise Lake Mead’s level by 20 to 30 feet, still well below half its capacity.
Friday, Sept. 1, 2023 | 2 a.m.
Southern Nevada water conservation
Cities and economic development organizations could start saying no to incoming businesses seeking tax abatements and grants if they consume too much water and won’t bring enough economic benefits to Southern Nevada.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority is nearly finished developing its new “water investment tool,” which ranks businesses on a scale from one to five based on how much water they would annually consume.
The Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development and the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance partnered with the water authority to develop the ranking system over the last year and a half.
It’s part of ongoing conservation efforts by water officials in Nevada, who have been lauded for water-saving measures in response to a two-decade drought that is leaving less water flowing through the Colorado River and its tributaries. The Colorado, depleted by overuse and years of drought, is the main source of fresh water in the American West. Its largest reservoirs, Lakes Mead and Powell, continue — despite a wetter-than-normal year — to be well below their historic water levels.
“It became obvious to all of us that, in the past, evaluating those opportunities from a water footprint perspective had never been done,” said Dave Jones, SNWA’s deputy general manager of operations.
On the ranking system, companies projected for the lowest water consumption are scored with a 5; the highest rate of usage is given a 1. Businesses scoring 2.5 to 4 would move on to a second analysis to evaluate how many jobs they would bring, how much those jobs pay and annual taxes the business would generate.
Johnson said businesses that Southern Nevada needs also have an edge, and the tool is designed to avoid singling out any one industry.
“A data center that would use water cooling for its operation would probably score very low, but a data center that uses all mechanical cooling and doesn’t have consumptive use would score very high,” Johnson said.
Tina Quigley, president of the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance, said the group didn’t have the authority to deny an incoming business permission the way a city could, but it could deny tax incentives or letters of support based on a low score. She said the alliance had been working with different cities’ leadership, industry groups and economists for input on the ranking system.
“We want to make sure if we’re giving up water, then it is going for the purpose of good jobs with good wages,” Quigley said.
The Governor’s Office of Economic Development funds regional development authorities like the alliance and cities’ economic development offices, according to Deputy Director Kristopher Sanchez. He said the office was not pushing to make the investment tool a requirement for those entities at this time.
But, “the intent is this tool will be utilized across all jurisdictions,” he said.
Johnson said the SNWA was hopeful municipalities would deny low-scoring businesses the required permits, but that decision would still be up to each city.
The ranking tool should debut in six months, he said.
“We don’t want to get into a situation where one municipality, based on the data, is concerned with a particular opportunity that’s not very water efficient and is handling them in a certain way, and that opportunity just goes to a neighboring community,” Johnson said.
Zane Marshall, SNWA’s director of water resources, said the region’s climate outlook meant that cities and economic development entities needed some way to evaluate water use. He gave a presentation on the system last month during an American Institute of Architects summit on sustainability in urban development.
“There are certain businesses that we may not be able to accept because of their consumptive use footprint,” Marshall said. “We may need to say no to some businesses, and what this tool does is give us a way to evaluate those businesses and provide feedback to the jurisdictions on what may or may not be appropriate for the community.”
