WATER POLITICS

The driest state in the nation is putting water consumption and conservation at the forefront of its economic development plans.

The Governor’s Office of Economic Development recently awarded a $1.5 million grant to Henderson-based nonprofit WaterStart to develop a set of conservation-minded incentives that will be incorporated into the state’s economic development portfolio — giving the Silver State another tool in the highly competitive field of attracting new and emerging businesses.

WaterStart Executive Director Nathan Allen said the goal is to help Nevada “see the water savings we need to make sure the economy can keep growing.”

“We think we can develop an approach that is more proactive than just restricting growth. And we hope this approach will be an example to the rest of the Western U.S.,” he said.

The concept would be similar to how other economic development incentive packages are handled in the state, but aimed at encouraging businesses to adopt technologies that will reduce their water consumption, with a major focus on addressing thirsty commercial evaporative cooling systems, Allen said.

In Southern Nevada, evaporative coolers are the second largest consumer of water behind only grass lawns, according to the Southern Nevada Water Authority. The authority in 2021 implemented a moratorium on the installation of new commercial evaporative coolers.

Nevada has what it considers seven “key” target industries that it is trying to attract to the state. Those are aerospace; health; information technology; manufacturing and logistics; mining; natural resource technologies; and gaming and tourism.

Some of the companies in those industries, such as data centers, tend to have hefty water footprints. In other cases, businesses moving from areas where water is less of a concern may not even think about how much water they are using through cleaning, cooling or other daily operations, Allen said.

“What we’re trying to figure out is can we find technologies to help those kind of industries adapt to how they operate in this region to still be able to do business, so that it’s not an all-or-nothing situation,” Allen said.

Economic development is a competitive field with states across the nation vying for the biggest names and newest technology. Having an incentive package such as the one being developed by WaterStart will provide a leg up on Nevada’s main competitors like Texas, Utah and Arizona, said Kristopher Sanchez, deputy director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.

The grant builds upon recent steps the state has taken to make water conservation even more central to the state’s future. The Nevada Legislature this year unanimously passed Assembly Bill 261, which enshrined into state law that water conservation must be part of the state’s economic development plan.

“It signals to the business community that we are very bullish on addressing this issue head-on,” Sanchez said.

WaterStart has a track record for connecting the business community with the latest water technologies. Since its founding in 2013, WaterStart has worked with state and local agencies to support and bring water technology companies from across the globe to Nevada.

Allen said they plan to have their recommendations submitted to the state by the end of 2024.