What we know about the bill that could limit Las Vegas water use

A sweeping water conservation bill that would give Las Vegas Valley water managers the unprecedented ability to limit how much water single-family residential homes in Southern Nevada could use continues to make its way through the state Legislature.

Assembly Bill 220 would give the Southern Nevada Water Authority the power to limit residential water use to 0.5 acre-feet per home per year in Clark County during times when the federal government has declared a water shortage along the drought-stricken Colorado River that supplies about 90 percent of Southern Nevada’s water.

If approved, Nevada would be the first state to give a water agency the power to cap the amount of water that flows into individual homes.

But what those restrictions could look like and how they would be implemented remains to be seen.

The bill cleared the Assembly on a 30-12 vote last month and still needs approval in the Senate and by the governor. The Senate Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to hear the amended version of the bill Tuesday afternoon.

Here’s a quick look at what we know — and what we don’t — about how those unprecedented water use limits could work should the bill be approved by the Legislature and signed into law.

When could those restrictions happen?

If AB220 does become law, water use limits would not immediately be placed on homes in Southern Nevada.

The decision to implement those restrictions would be up to the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s board of directors, which is made up of elected officials from municipal governments in Southern Nevada.