Apportionment

Nevada is allocated 300,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water per year under the Law of the River. This complex body of laws, court cases and regulations guide the use of Colorado River water.

History

In 1922, the Colorado River Compact defined the geographic areas of the upper and lower basins of the Colorado River and apportioned 7.5 million acre-feet of water per year (MAFY) to each.

Of the lower basin's 7.5 MAFY, the 1928 Boulder Canyon Project Act authorized the apportionment of 300,000 acre-feet per year to Nevada. At the time, Nevada's negotiators viewed 300,000 acre-feet per year as a more than reasonable amount. Southern Nevada has no significant agricultural industry, groundwater seemed plentiful and no one foresaw the growth that would eventually occur.

The Las Vegas Valley did not begin using its Colorado River allocation until the mid-1950s.