The authority has already achieved a remarkable feat: In recent years, Las Vegas and its suburbs have cut water use by one-third while adding 400,000 residents.

It was done in part with a $200-million fund to provide rebates for replacing grass with desert landscapes. Las Vegas also recycles all water that goes down the drain from dishwashers, sinks, showers and even toilets, and after reprocessing, it is pumped back into Lake Mead. With each gallon returned to the reservoir, the city gets to take another out.

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Many water experts say Las Vegas needs to immediately take a series of no-nonsense steps to help control its water shortage: Cut indoor as well as outdoor use; charge much more for water and punish abusers with precipitously higher rates; and start disclosing the rate of a neighbor’s water use in residential bills to create more social pressure to conserve.

“At some point, you have to live within your means, but that doesn’t fit with the image of Las Vegas,” said Steve Erickson, Utah coordinator for the Great Basin Water Network, an advocacy group. “These people need to remember that it’s a city built upon an inhospitable desert. What were they thinking?”