Southern Nevada Water Authority

Water conservation is vital to southwest Utah’s future and removing irrigated grass at many of its golf courses would be a big step toward stretching that supply. But efforts have struggled to gain traction.

The measure lets the Southern Nevada Water Authority restrict the amount of water to homes, but only if the federal government further dials back Nevada’s share of water drawn from the river.

For decades, Las Vegas has relied on wastewater recycling and removing water-guzzling lawns to stretch and conserve its small Colorado River share. But even with proactive management, it could face significant challenges and uncertainties when it comes to future population growth.

A judge in Nevada dealt a major blow Wednesday to the plan to pump groundwater from valleys in the Great Basin to Las Vegas.The ruling by Judge Robert…