Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) announced that they helped deliver $60 million for the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s (SNWA) landscape rebate program. The funding comes from the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation and will fund the conversion of 23 million square feet of non-native, water-intensive grasses to water-efficient desert landscaping.
The $60 million in funding for the SNWA is part of a $4 billion program to mitigate drought in states that border the Colorado River that Cortez Masto helped secure in the Inflation Reduction Act. The SNWA’s landscape rebate program will save an estimated 61.5 billion gallons of water from the Colorado River.
“The drought crisis that Southern Nevada faces requires creative, innovative solutions,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “The SNWA’s landscape rebate program has already helped save millions of gallons of water in Las Vegas and expanding it will put significantly less strain on our water supply and restore even more of our native desert vegetation. I am proud to have secured this funding, and I will continue working in the Senate to combat drought in the Silver State.”
“Nevada is a national leader in water conservation, routinely using less water than most states in the region,” said Senator Rosen. “This federal funding will help our state continue protecting Nevadans’ access to water by investing in drought-resilient landscaping.”
Senators Cortez Masto and Rosen have been leaders working to support conservation efforts and combat drought. As part of the Great American Outdoors Act, they secured permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). They recently announced $10 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to enhance the safety and functionality of the Marlette Lake Dam. They secured $30 million from the Bureau of Reclamation for the Truckee Meadow Water Authority to make Northern Nevada’s water supply more drought resilient.
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