1. A plan or joint plan of water conservation submitted to the Section for review must include provisions relating to:

(a) Methods of public education to:

(1) Increase public awareness of the limited supply of water in this State and the need to conserve water.

(2) Encourage reduction in the size of lawns and encourage the use of plants that are adapted to arid and semiarid climates.

(b) Specific conservation measures required to meet the needs of the service area, including, but not limited to, any conservation measures required by law.

(c) The management of water to identify and reduce water loss in water supplies, inaccuracies in water meters and high pressure in water supplies, which must include, without limitation:

(1) Goals for acceptable levels of water loss in water supplies. Such goals may use the following performance indicators and analyses, without limitation:

(I) Infrastructure water loss index;

(II) Water audit data validity score;

(III) Operational basic apparent losses;

(IV) Operational basic real losses; and

(V) Economic level of water loss.

(2) A plan which analyzes how the supplier of water will progress towards the goals established for the acceptable levels of water loss.

(d) The management of water to, where applicable, increase the reuse of effluent.

(e) A contingency plan for drought conditions that ensures a supply of potable water.

(f) A schedule for carrying out the plan or joint plan.

(g) A plan for how the supplier of water will progress towards the installation of meters on all connections.

(h) Standards for water efficiency for new development.

(i) Tiered rate structures for the pricing of water to promote the conservation of water, including, without limitation, an estimate of the manner in which the tiered rate structure will impact the consumptive use of water.

(j) Watering restrictions based on the time of day and the day of the week.

2. In addition to the requirements of subsection 1, a plan or joint plan of water conservation submitted to the Section for review by a supplier of water providing service for 500 or more connections must include provisions relating to:

(a) Measures to evaluate the effectiveness of the plan or joint plan.

(b) For each conservation measure specified in the plan or joint plan, an estimate of the amount of water that will be conserved each year as a result of the adoption of the plan or joint plan, stated in terms of gallons of water saved annually.

3. The Section shall review any plan or joint plan submitted to it within 120 days after its submission and approve the plan if it is based on the climate and living conditions of the service area and complies with the requirements of this section.

4. The Chief may exempt wholesale water purveyors from the provisions of this section which do not reasonably apply to wholesale supply.

5. To the extent practicable, the State Engineer shall provide on the Internet website of the State Engineer a link to the plans and joint plans that are submitted for review. In carrying out the provisions of this subsection, the State Engineer is not responsible for ensuring, and is not liable for failing to ensure, that the plans and joint plans which are provided on the Internet website are accurate and current.

(Added to NRS by 1991, 521; A 2005, 2571; 2007, 1254; 2017, 3524; 2019, 2099, effective January 1, 2020)