LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The federal government announced three new conservation agreements to bolster water storage in Lake Mead and Lake Powell on Tuesday.
The new agreements total about 400,000 acre-feet of water savings — more than twice the amount of Colorado River water used by Las Vegas over the past year. About 87% of that will come from the Palo Verde Irrigation District, in cooperation with the Metropolitan Water District in Los Angeles. The Palo Verde district supplies water to citrus farmers in Riverside and Imperial counties in California.
A total of 24 water agreements costing $670.2 million are expected to save as much as 1.58 million acre-feet through 2026. One acre-foot — 325,851 gallons — is enough water to supply two to three households for a year. It’s called an acre-foot because it’s the amount of water it would take to cover an acre of land in water a foot deep.
