• Winner: Two conservation groups have published a detailed report that concludes Las Vegas could save 40 percent of its water demand in houses and 30 percent in casinos if it followed some fairly simple recommendations. The good news is that such a savings would keep the growing city from needing to take water from beneath fragile deserts in Utah. The trick now is to get folks in Nevada to read the report.

• Loser: Utah's animal abuse laws are among the weakest in the nation, according to the Animal Legal Defense Fund. Normally, reports from special-interest groups don't amount to much, but this one deserves a closer look. Independent research has shown that people who torture animals for pleasure sometimes graduate to the field of human torture and murder. The law needs to reflect the seriousness of such crimes and extend reasonable protection to defenseless animals. Humans and animals alike would benefit.