LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Water officials from Nevada, Arizona and California say they will make extra contributions by reducing their use of the Colorado River. Combined with earlier commitments, the proposed cuts add up to a total of about 20% of the states’ water allotments.

The plan, released Friday by the three states, would stabilize the river through 2028, according to a joint news release. It adds an extra contribution of 700,000 acre feet of water to cuts already in place. An acre foot is literally the amount of water it takes to cover an acre of land in water a foot deep. That’s 325,851 gallons, enough water to supply two to three households for a year.

Las Vegas relies on the Colorado River for 90% of its water, but recycling has consistently allowed Southern Nevada to use a lot less water than Nevada’s full allotment. Recycled water is returned to Lake Mead, and that is subtracted from the state’s “consumptive use” of the river. After all the math, Southern Nevada uses about two-thirds of its water allotment. Nevada is seen as a conservation and recycling model for other states to follow.

“This proposal is about moving from ideas to implementation,” John Entsminger, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), said in a statement included in the news release.

“It pairs real measurable water contributions with sensible dry-condition operations at Lake Powell and across the Upper Initial Units. Now is the time for every water user in the Basin to double down on water conservation as we face historically dry hydrology.”

The timing of the announcement comes as the federal government is working on a plan to replace a set of Colorado River rules that expire at the end of 2026. The three states behind the proposal, along with the four states in the Upper Colorado River Basin — Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — were unable to reach a consensus agreement. That’s when the federal government said it would put its own plan in place.

The Upper Basin states are asking for mediation, but the new proposal addresses what Lower Basin states see as an urgent need for immediate action — from every state. “The Lower Basin states stand ready to engage in a meaningful process for long-term solutions while encouraging the Upper Basin to step forward now with verifiable water contributions to help stabilize the system and support a near-term, seven-state bridge,” the news release said.

Friday’s plan involves cuts from the Lower Basin states, but those are contingent on actions at Lake Powell and reservoirs farther up the river. Without federal backing, those upstream actions are unlikely to happen. The plan also asks for congressional funding to assist states in making changes.

“I think the scariest thing about this proposal is that we are hearing the top water officials on the Colorado River system talk about elevations of Lake Mead going to depths that we have never seen before,” Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network, told 8 News Now on Monday.

“It’s no surprise that the leadership of the Southern Nevada Water Authority played a big role in developing this because it focuses on conservation. And the conservation that we are seeing proposed is the type of thing that Las Vegas is built and ready to handle. It also signals that other communities are getting serious about this as well,” he said.

Roerink said Nevada can handle big cuts that are coming, but other states are far behind in adjusting to the realities of drier conditions.

“They’re manageable because we’ve taken on the challenge of turf removal, watering restrictions, septic tank removal, moratoriums on evaporative cooling and data centers. This is why we have the resiliency,” Roerink said.

While every state is conserving some amount of water, the Lower Basin states are doing the hard work of trying to come up with a plan, Roerink said. The Upper Basin hasn’t been a part of that. Instead, those states are “digging in their heels,” he said.

California is by far the biggest user of Colorado River water, which flows through pipes and channels to metro Los Angeles and farmland in the Imperial Valley.

“With this proposal, the Lower Basin is putting forth real action to stabilize water supply along the Colorado River. We’re putting forward additional measurable water contributions for the system. Without that, the system will continue to decline,” JB Hamby, chairman of the Colorado River Board of California, said.

Up to now, Arizona has taken the steepest cuts as the desert Southwest has struggled through a federally declared water shortage since 2022. Farmers in Arizona were the first to have their water supplies reduced.

Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, said the proposal reflects the creativity and commitment of water users across the Lower Basin. “We have shown that collaborative, voluntary efforts and reductions that are certain can produce meaningful water savings,” he said.

Roerink, who acknowledges that this year will likely be “one of the worst ever in recorded history in the Colorado River system,” said the plan from the Lower Basin states could go a long way in preventing hysteria. Making changes now could ensure that Lake Mead doesn’t drop to dangerous levels, he said.

The state judge overseeing New Mexico’s attempt to force a safety overhaul of Instagram and Facebook said Monday that he’s worried some of the proposed changes would amount to “overreach.”

New Mexico attorney general Raúl Torrez is pushing for extensive changes and up to $3.7 billion in penalties after a state jury ruled last month that Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta had failed to protect kids from sexual predators. Judge Bryan Biedscheid is presiding over a second trial to determine which of those requested remedies are appropriate.

“I am a judge, ​I am not a legislator, I am not a regulator,” Biedscheid said as the second phase began on Monday.

Biedscheid added that his goal was to ensure any court-ordered fixes would address the proven harms of Instagram and Facebook without him becoming a “one-person legislature.”

The judge will rule on whether Meta’s failings constitute a “public nuisance” under state law, which would allow him to order remedies. The jury previously ordered Meta to pay $375 million in damages.

“The changes we’re seeking are reasonable, achievable, and supported by child safety and technology experts,” Torrez said in a statement ahead of the trial. “There is no credible argument against them, only a company that has decided its bottom line matters more than the safety of kids.”

As The Post reported, Meta has already threatened to cut off access to Instagram and Faceook entirely if the judge orders “impractical” safety features to be implemented. The social media giant claims Torrez’s “requests for relief are so broad and so burdensome” that no one could realistically comply with them.

Torrez fired back, asserting that Meta’s threats were little more than a PR stunt and that the company was “showing the world how little it cares about child safety.”

New Mexico’s proposed fixes include implementing an effective age verification process for accounts; recommendation algorithms that prioritize user safety over boosting how much time they spend on the apps; and limits on end-to-end encrypted messaging for minors.

State officials also want Meta to display warning labels about the risks of using its apps and an independent oversight committee to ensure the company’s compliance. Meta “would be held to a 99% detection rate for new child sexual abuse material,” according to the state.

A Meta spokesperson said the state’s demands are “technically impractical, impossible for any company to meet and disregard the realities of the internet.”

Experts previously told the Post that Meta’s threat to cut off the apps entirely, while technically feasible, would make the situation even messier for the company.

“I think a blackout in one state would be comically easy to circumvent – for example, with a VPN,” Ryan Calo, a professor at the University of Washington focused on the intersection of law and technology, said last week. “Who is responsible when, invariably, New Mexico residents continue to access Facebook? And of course, they would still have to pay for prior behavior in the state.”

WIth Post wires