Nevada filed a federal lawsuit on Monday challenging the Trump administration's Colorado River management plan, arguing the framework would strip Southern Nevada of more than 70% of its allocated share, according to Governor Joe Lombardo.
The state of Nevada, the Colorado River Commission of Nevada and the Southern Nevada Water Authority named the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as defendants in the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for Nevada. The suit follows the Bureau's Friday release of mandatory supply reductions targeting lower-basin states. Las Vegas depends on the Colorado River for 90% of its water supply, and the administration's plan would reduce Nevada, Arizona and California's combined consumption by up to 3.7 billion cubic metres annually through 2036.
Arizona, which faces losing roughly one-third of its river draw over the next two years, is also threatening legal action over the plan, which imposes no mandatory federal cutbacks on four upper-basin states.