FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 15, 2021
LAS VEGAS, NV – Today, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak signed a proclamation recognizing the significant threats to the economy of the Sagebrush State and the livelihoods of Nevadans from reduced water availability as the outcome of increasing temperatures.
“The fact higher temperatures would pose challenges to Nevada’s water availability is an inevitable consequence of the physics of climate. We are the driest state in the nation and while many stakeholders have done a tremendous job at improving efficiencies, we are all going to be dealing with less water,” said Governor Sisolak. “State agencies have been doing great work to address these challenges whether it is with our agricultural producers by the Department of Agriculture, wildfire fuel management projects by Division of Forestry or emergency water hauls by the Department of Wildlife to protect wildlife; the threat across the board is a changing climate.”
This year all seventeen counties have seen federal designations as drought disaster areas with approximately 90% of the state currently facing severe to exceptional drought. According to a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the 2020-21 drought in the Southwest is the worst since 1895. In July, over 40% of the State was designated in a state of exceptional drought by the U.S. Drought Monitor. Since 2015, the Nevada Drought Forum has convened to develop strategies to address the impacts of drought across Nevada and the State and the University of Nevada support Extension’s Living with Drought website that connects Nevadans with resources to support preparation, response, and recovery from drought.
“Drought has become frequent across Nevada because of increasing temperatures. Less snow, drier landscapes, and changing water resources indicate a potential shift toward aridification,” said Dr. Kristen Averyt, Senior Climate Advisor. “It may snow and rain periodically, providing some relief, but our water budget is in the hole, and drought will come back.”
The impact of drought is evident across the state with multiple agencies having to respond to changing conditions. With many of Nevada’s 256 hydrographic basins and sub-basins over-appropriated, climate change is complicating the work of the State Engineer in resolving already difficult adjudications of rights based on documentation that dates to the State’s founding. To prevent population loss among bighorn sheep, the Nevada Department of Wildlife conducted emergency water hauls. The State Water plan is also being updated by the Division of Water Resources.
The proclamation coincides with the meeting of the Colorado River Water Users Association Conference taking place this week in Las Vegas. Recent modeling by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation that manages Lake Mead has triggered a federal declaration of a water shortage as the elevation of the lake has fallen to 1,075ft, the lowest since it was originally filled.
The proclamation can be found here.