Nevada’s infrastructure is among the best in the nation, according to a report released Wednesday by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). 

The report, which issues grades of A through F (similar to a school report card), showed slow but steady improvements with Nevada earning a grade of C+, higher than the national average of a C grade.

But like a school report card, the C+ grade shows substantial room for improvement, indicating that much of Nevada’s infrastructure is mediocre and requires attention.

The report, the fourth since 2007, was compiled by more than a dozen Nevada civil engineers and ASCE staff. It graded the state’s infrastructure on eight criteria: capacity, condition, funding, future need, operation and maintenance, safety, resilience and innovation. In 2018, Nevada received a grade of a C; in 2014, it received a C-.

Despite the grade improvement, the report found the state’s rapid rate of growth is taxing the existing infrastructure and a shortage of funding to address growing infrastructure needs isn’t helping. 

“Infrastructure is the backbone of our economy in the state,” Chuck Joseph, co-chair of the report card, said at a Wednesday event in Carson City to discuss the data. “Everybody takes it for granted.”

Nevada received its lowest grade (a C-) for its dams and drinking water, while bridges and wastewater received grades of B-, the state’s highest grade. Roads, parks, energy and aviation fell somewhere in between.

Only three other states — Wisconsin, Utah and Georgia — achieved overall grades of C+, the highest grade issued this year by the society, Joseph said.

“Our infrastructure is meeting the needs of Nevadans at this time,” said Tanner Hartranft, co-chair of the report card. 

Aviation: C+

Nevada’s airports are among its most critical infrastructure. Last year, a combined more than 60 million passengers traveled through Reno-Tahoe International Airport and Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport — more than 52 million of those travelers departed from Harry Reid.

Both airports are working to better accommodate the voluminous number of travelers — Reno-Tahoe International Airport is in the middle of a $1 billion expansion, including a new car rental and transportation facility, new gates and the expansion of concourses to allow larger planes.

Harry Reid, landlocked and unable to expand, is looking at constructing a supplemental airport (the Southern Nevada Supplemental Airport). That project is currently undergoing an environmental analysis — those involved with the project estimate it could be years before a final decision is issued.

In 2018, the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) completed an analysis of the state’s airports (including smaller airports outside of Reno and Las Vegas). It found that 20 percent of the state’s airport pavement needs work at a cost of roughly $62.5 million, and overall investment needs for the state’s airports are estimated at $8.4 billion over the next 20 years.

In 2023, Gov. Joe Lombardo signed AB58 into law, appropriating $2 million into the state’s aviation fund; it was estimated those funds could be leveraged to receive more than $32 million in federal funds. AB100, introduced this session, would have supported air service across the state, but died.

Bridges: B-

Despite being the driest state in the union, Nevada still boasts more than 2,100 bridges — and most of them are in good shape. Less than 2 percent of the state’s bridges are rated “structurally deficient,” making the state’s bridge network one of the best in the country.

However, that strong ranking comes with a caveat. More than a quarter of the state’s bridges are more than 50 years old, and another 250 will reach that age by the end of the decade. NDOT manages nearly 60 percent of the state’s bridges.

The report pointed to the G-947 viaduct in downtown Las Vegas on U.S. Route 95 as an example. If any portion of the bridge needed to be shut down for emergency repairs, it would likely affect 100,000 drivers each day it was out of service.

Older structures are costlier to maintain and will eventually require replacement, but the state has insufficient funding to address future bridge-related needs. The state spends approximately $17 million per two-year budget cycle on bridge preservation, funded through federal money, fuel taxes, and registration fees, but the state’s current backlog of bridge preservation work and replacement is approximately $133 million.

The state’s rural areas also face unique challenges, Joseph said. While 68 percent of the state’s bridges are in Las Vegas and Washoe County, the remaining bridges are often in rural areas that require extensive detours to bypass when a bridge fails, he said.

“That’s a significant issue,” Joseph said.

Dams: C-

Nevada’s dams and drinking water received the lowest ranking. Despite receiving the lowest grade, it’s an improvement over 2018 and 2014 — in those reports, state dams received a grade of D+.

There are 673 state-regulated dams in Nevada. Most of them are owned by private entities and are earthen and used for flood control and irrigation.

Of those, 508 are in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ National Inventory of Dams, which tracks dams considered high hazard (the designation only means a breach of that dam could have serious consequences, not that the dam itself is in poor shape). 

Almost all the state’s high-hazard dams have had emergency action plans drafted and put in place, outlining what to do in case of a breach. That planning bumped the dams’ rankings up.

But state dams are still plagued by underfunding and staffing issues. The dam safety program in Nevada has only five full-time employees. 

It is estimated that dam repair and upkeep by 2029 will cost more than $80 million; as of 2023, the state’s budget to operate its dam safety program was just $350,000. And those funds can only be used for the administration of the state’s dam safety program and inspections.

“As each year passes, rehabilitation will become critical and federal funding will be required to close the gap,” the report stated.

Drinking water: C-

Nevada’s grade for drinking water remained the same as 2018, the last time the ASCE issued a report.

Nevada will require $6.4 billion for water system improvements over the next 20 years, according to data cited by the ASCE report. Nearly two-thirds will be needed for distribution and transmission projects.

Almost all the state’s 3.14 million residents rely on community drinking water systems — only about 2 percent of state residents receive water from wells. 

Although water systems in Northern and Southern Nevada are currently doing well, ongoing drought conditions particularly along the Colorado River, which provides 90 percent of the water used by the Southern Nevada Water Authority, creates ongoing challenges.

“Water in the West is always an uphill battle — obtaining water, storing water, and using water efficiently,” Hartranft said.

Energy: C+

Nevada’s energy grade dropped for the same reason as the nation’s, Hartranft said — surging demand on pace to surpass supply.

Electricity providers (primarily NV Energy) are currently meeting the state’s energy needs, but rapid residential and industrial growth (including data centers) are taxing the state. 

The state relies heavily on outside resources — Nevada is a net importer of energy, using about six times more energy than it produces. Instead, the report says Nevada should focus on facilitating more in-state capacity using renewable sources and reduce dependence on coal and natural gas.

Almost two thirds of the state’s energy comes from natural gas, nearly all of which is imported from outside the state. Renewables — primarily solar, geothermal and hydroelectric — account for just under a third of state electricity generation.

The state has adopted renewable standards mandating the percentage of electricity that must come from renewable energy sources, but Nevada is not on pace to meet the global goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, according to the ASCE report. 

But the state and NV Energy have taken some significant steps to reduce emissions. 

The recent shuttering of Nevada’s two largest coal fired power plants has decreased the state’s greenhouse gas emissions, although the ASCE report notes they are still “declining slowly.”  

For the last decade, transportation has been the state’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for more than one-third of gross emissions. NDOT estimates that drivers travel 27.6 billion miles per year on Nevada roads, according to the ASCE.

Roads: C

Nevada drivers rely on the state's more than 48,000 miles of roads to get around. Nearly two thirds — 60 percent — are in good or fair condition, but about 20 percent are in poor condition.

The federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 provided $2.8 billion for highway and bridge investment in the state through 2026, representing a 39 percent funding increase, and federal funds currently cover 55 percent of NDOT’s spending on highway and bridge improvements.

But because of inflation and the increased use of electric vehicles, which do not pay the state gas tax, Nevada needs to consider additional long-term funding solutions, Joseph said. 

Current road funding relies heavily on the state’s 23.8 cent per gallon gas tax, but NDOT will require at least $16.9 billion over the next decade for statewide transportation projects and operations. State and federal funding sources are expected to cover about $10.7 billion, leaving a sizable funding gap of more than $6 billion.

Parks: C+

The state’s public parks score dropped from a B- to C+ as population continues to grow, taxing public lands and public parks, while funding and staffing fail to keep pace.

“Parks that weren’t so busy six, seven years ago are now swarmed with people, and staffing isn’t there to take care of all the extra usage,” Hartranft said.

With more than 60 million acres of government-owned land, Nevada is first in the nation for what the report considers “publicly owned parkland.” And, a 2023 report by the Trust for Public Land found the majority of residents in most urban areas lived within a 10-minute walk of a park.

But funding and staffing remains a challenge. The City of Las Vegas spends less than $100 per resident per year on parks, and Reno spends just $57 annually per resident on parks, according to the report. 

Wastewater: B-

Exponential growth over the last seven decades means that many of Nevada’s wastewater collection systems are relatively new compared with those in other states. And more than three-quarters of the state’s treatment facilities are no-discharge, meaning that wastewater is typically stored in lined ponds until all water evaporates. 

But while the number of treatment facilities is expected to remain flat, Nevada’s population is expected to grow by as much as 140 percent by 2032, according to the ASCE, leaving 89 percent of the state’s population to be served by 20 percent of the treatment facilities in the state.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 1:30 p.m. on 6/12/2025 to correct the amount Reno-Tahoe International Airport is spending on its project, as well as the effects of AB100.