In the heart of the Mojave Desert, where the neon lights of Las Vegas shimmer against a backdrop of arid mountains, a quiet but determined battle is underway. Southern Nevada, like much of the American Southwest, is locked in an “exceptional” drought—the harshest category recognized by the U.S. Drought Monitor. Millions of people in seven states—Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, and Nevada—depend on the Colorado River, but its lifeblood is running thin. Nowhere is this more visible than at Lake Mead, just east of Las Vegas, where receding “bathtub rings” mark the decline of one of the nation’s largest reservoirs.
To confront this crisis, the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) has spent more than two decades rolling out an array of water conservation efforts. Among the most visible—and perhaps surprising—are the water waste investigators, a team of about two dozen individuals who patrol Las Vegas neighborhoods daily, searching for signs of water being squandered. Devyn Choltko, one of these investigators, is a familiar sight in her blue and white vehicle, scanning for telltale streams of water on streets and sidewalks.
On a recent July morning, Choltko spotted water trickling down the gutter in a suburban neighborhood. She quickly reported, “Water Waste Investigator 9393,” into her phone, documenting the misaligned sprinklers and over-irrigation. “Water is making its way from the property and down the gutter,” she recorded. Such “spray and flow” violations—where sprinklers send water onto the sidewalk or street—are among the most common, according to Nevada Public Radio.
Once a violation is witnessed, Choltko marks a yellow flag with the date, time, and details, then places it on the offending property. This serves as a warning and a wake-up call. “Most people don’t even know they have a problem,” Choltko explained to NPR, noting that many irrigation systems run automatically in the early morning or late at night, out of sight and out of mind for homeowners.
Residents typically receive a few notices before facing consequences. If the issue persists, fines start at $80 and can double if ignored. Choltko emphasized that the goal isn’t to punish but to educate: “The goal is to educate people about the importance of water conservation and encourage a change in behavior,” echoed Bronson Mack, SNWA spokesperson, in an interview with Nevada Public Radio. That change might be as simple as taking shorter showers or reusing water for cleaning or plants.
When the water patrol program began in 2003, roughly 20% of residents received citations that resulted in fines. Today, that number has dropped to fewer than 10% of investigated properties. “As we look at that today, we’re closer to 10% or less of property owners that have a water waste investigation take place at their property that end up receiving a fee,” Mack told Nevada Public Radio. The reduction is a testament to growing public awareness and a shift in community habits.
But water waste isn’t always due to negligence. Many Las Vegas residents, in an effort to conserve, have swapped out thirsty lawns for desert landscaping—succulents and drought-resistant plants watered by drip irrigation. Yet even the best intentions can go awry. Faulty or worn-out drip tubes can gush water onto sidewalks, wasting precious resources. “Malfunctions can cause a lot of water waste in general just because of the potential for them to get so much worse, so quickly,” Choltko observed to NPR.
In such cases, the SNWA goes beyond flagging the property. They follow up with a phone call, and for low-income homeowners, financial assistance is available to help make necessary repairs. “We collected in the neighborhood of about $1-$1.5 million over the recent years in water waste violations,” Mack said. Those funds are reinvested in conservation programs, including incentives for turf removal and rebates for smart irrigation systems.
The SNWA has also imposed strict watering schedules, restricting irrigation to early mornings or nights and banning watering on Sundays. Decorative grass has been banned, pool sizes in new developments are limited, and evaporative cooling—an energy-efficient but water-hungry alternative to air conditioning—has been largely prohibited in industrial and commercial settings. According to the SNWA, evaporative cooling is the “second largest consumptive use of water” after landscape irrigation.
Recycling plays a major role in Southern Nevada’s conservation strategy. The region recycles the majority of its water, treating and returning it to Lake Mead. In 2024 alone, the SNWA returned over 245,000 acre-feet of water to the reservoir. Despite a population boom—Las Vegas has grown by nearly a million residents in two decades, and the city sees over 40 million tourists each year—Colorado River water consumption has dropped by more than 30% in the same period.
Similar stories are playing out across the country. Cities like Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, and Miami-Dade have all stepped up their conservation game, recognizing that water is increasingly a precious commodity. “In order for us to sustain a dependable, affordable water supply, we will need to continue to lean more heavily into these water-saving strategies,” said Ron Burke, CEO and president of the nonprofit Alliance for Water Efficiency, speaking with Nevada Public Radio.
Still, the outlook for the Colorado River system remains sobering. Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the river’s two largest reservoirs, are now at less than 35% of their normal capacity. The Bureau of Reclamation expects these low levels to persist. Scott Cameron, Acting Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at the U.S. Department of the Interior, stressed in a news release the urgency of “forward-thinking solutions that prioritize conservation, efficiency, and resilience.”
For Choltko, the work is personal. Having grown up in southern Nevada, she takes pride in making a difference for her community. “Her efforts will continue to make the region a beautiful place to call home in 50 years,” reported NPR. The fight for water in Las Vegas is far from over, but thanks to vigilant patrols, innovative policies, and a community willing to adapt, the city is proving that even in the harshest drought, hope—and water—can be conserved.
