The Colorado River doesn't care about the whims of wealthy gardeners in the Mojave Desert.

Today, Lake Mead is one-third full. Within the next year, the reservoir's level will be even lower, according to projections from the federal government. The 2026 winter is one of the worst on record in the Colorado River Basin — with flows about one-fifth of normal. There's no spare water in the region.

Water managers in Southern Nevada have challenges ahead — and most of them come from entities outside our state. However, some in Las Vegas are fighting — quite litigiously — to remove our commonsense water safeguards and contingency plans approved by the Legislature.

A recent opinion column in The Nevada Independent describes Las Vegas' water provider as waging a "war on grass" that's killing trees and increasing heat in the desert. The piece's author, local business owner Norm Schilling, is vocally supporting efforts of wealthy plaintiffs from tony neighborhoods who are suing the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA). 

The lawsuit alleges harms arising from diminished tree canopy cover in the region that results from turf removal efforts to conserve water. The litigation seeks to stop the water authority from implementing the will of the Nevada Legislature — which views turf removal as a viable way to bolster water supplies.

In his piece, Schilling decries a statute outlawing "useless turf" as "shortsighted" because of harms to trees. In filings with a Nevada district court, Schilling described the water authority as waging a "campaign" to destroy tree canopy.

Schilling, a horticulturist by trade, is not considering what happens if the water authority were to reverse course. He should swap his rose-colored glasses for a shade more akin to the Colorado River. What's myopic is assuming that there are other ecological and economic options for protecting Nevada's share of this crucial waterway.

The crux of the lawsuit is the SNWA's legislatively mandated turf removal practices passed by the Legislature in 2021 via AB356. Before implementation of the bill, the water authority determined that turf removal is the fastest and cheapest way to conserve and repurpose water in Las Vegas — reducing Nevada's Colorado River use by billions of gallons as the region's population boomed. 

Those initial efforts were voluntary. In 2021, the Legislature recognized the past success and decided to have the water authority go even further with a mandate.

The law requires the authority to work with homeowners associations, business park operators, local governments and other real estate interests to identify "useless" turf — the type of grass that's only walked on when it's being cut. The water authority replaces the turf with water-wise landscaping. If enacted properly, the effort saves Southern Nevada billions of gallons of much-needed water annually for existing residents and future growth.

In the long run, the mandate of AB356 will save money too. I represent the Great Basin Water Network, an organization that once sued the SNWA. We did so to stop a costly pipeline to export billions of gallons of groundwater hundreds of miles to augment Lake Mead. The costs of the pipeline would have swelled water bills and nickel-and-dimed taxpayers — while draining precious groundwater from rural Nevada. 

Fortunately, during that era, the water authority also invested heavily in conservation practices such as turf removal to free up water. When the pipeline effort died in court, the SNWA was ready to manage in times of scarcity thanks to a portfolio of water conservation options, fair rate designs and infrastructure such as the third intake at Lake Mead. 

But the problems on the Colorado River required the SNWA and lawmakers to do more in 2021. And it was, oddly enough, an issue where my organization and the water authority worked together to pass a vital law.

It is a new era for the water authority — one where conservation is the first, second and third cheapest option for augmenting water supplies. A world without an expensive groundwater exportation effort requires Las Vegans to do their part in implementing effective water management. Those costs do come with the sacrifice of having limited desert landscaping.

The extent of tree canopy loss is not yet quantified in any empirical way recognized by Nevada courts. But one thing is true: We should not be undermining our best-in-the-West water conservation laws so wealthy homeowners in Southern Nevada can keep their thirsty landscaping. Our water cycle is changing, as evidenced by this winter. Our landscaping habits must change too.

Living in the desert is a privilege that requires a little common sense and a desire to be different from other American communities. Water scarcity separates us from so many other places. 

In the West, however, Nevada is leading the way. If Denver, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Phoenix and Los Angeles did what we do in Nevada, things would be different on the Colorado River. But, unfortunately, that's not the case.

It's lonely, and dry, at the top. But we have the moral high ground — as long as senseless litigation doesn't knock us off our perch.

Kyle Roerink is executive director of the Great Basin Water Network. He is a former staffer for Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) and reporter for the Las Vegas Sun.