Yes.

Southern Nevada's per capita water use fell from 211 gallons per person per day in 2002 to 89 gallons in 2025 a spokesperson for the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) said in an email. That's a 57.8 percent decrease.

SNWA uses 2002 as its baseline because it was the region's peak water use year. The community's goal is to reach 86 gallons per person per day by 2035.

The figure measures consumptive use, meaning water that isn't recycled back to Lake Mead. SNWA calculates it by taking all the water it diverts, subtracting the Colorado River return-flow credits it earns for recycling water, then dividing by the number of residents it serves. SNWA says the metric also accounts for water used by the more than 40 million people who visit the Las Vegas area each year.

Because there's no standard way to calculate the metric, SNWA doesn't recommend using it to compare water efficiency between cities.

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Sources

• Southern Nevada Water Authority, spokesperson Bronson Mack's email
• Southern Nevada Water Authority, What We're Doing to Conserve
• Southern Nevada Water Authority, Water Shortages