By Mark Waite
A pipeline to import water 70 miles into Pahrump would cost $172 million, according to a study by Nye County Water District consultant Oz Wichman.
When that cost is financed over 40 years and divided up among 30,000 people, Wichman’s study estimated it would amount to a monthly fee of $12.15 per person per month, assuming the customers had to pay 100 percent of the financial obligation. An interest rate of 4 percent could double the monthly payment to $24 per person.
Wichman’s sample study, presented to the water board Monday, calculated the costs of pumping 5,000 acre feet of water annually from Crater Flat, an area southeast of Beatty, near where Sterling Gold has been exploring.
Pahrump Valley receives about 12,000 acre feet per year in recharge from the Spring Mountains. An acre foot is enough to supply two families of five for a year. The state engineer recently warned about the over-allocation of water rights in Pahrump, though latest figures show 13,352 acre feet of pumping.
The report is for a possible project 20 to 50 years in the future. Wichman’s report assumes consumption from wells at 150 gallons per day, through Greg Hafen II from Pahrump Utility Company said their customers use 114 gallons.
Wichman’s introduction states: “it is possible that the future population in the Pahrump hydrographic basin could outstrip the groundwater resources that lie beneath the community. Water importation may provide one piece of a larger workable solution for the future water demand in the hydrographic basin and for the community of Pahrump.”
Though Planning Director Steve Osborne estimated Pahrump’s population at full buildout, with current zoning, could reach 495,000 people, Wichman said a fractional portion of that population could outstrip groundwater resources.
A preliminary engineering report would be the first main step in such a project, which would address not only particulars for water importation but a detailed assessment of the utilities it would serve, including suggested rates. The water district would then have to obtain the water rights and permits. Financing would follow.
“I’ve been asked to compare this to the Southern Nevada Water Authority project. It’s wildly different. This project shows we would import water solely from within Nye County boundaries,” Wichman said. But he said, “You’re going to be faced with similar challenges and those challenges are extensive challenges.”
The Southern Nevada Water Authority has a plan to pump 84,000 acre feet of water from Lincoln and White Pine counties 300 miles to Las Vegas Valley to service 150,000 homes, a project estimated to cost $3.2 billion but as much as $7.3 billion in a worst case scenario. That project could come to the forefront if the water level at Lake Mead continues to drop.
It’s not difficult to calculate drilling costs, but it can require drilling a few wells to find good water, Wichman said; he anticipated drilling eight wells to find five wells with good water. Wichman has some experience in that matter with the Manhattan water project.
“Finding water that doesn’t require treatment is a pretty tough job in some geographic areas,” Wichman said. For that reason he suggests drilling deep wells down to the carbonate aquifer. He said in Gabbs, for example, a community with only 145 meters, it would’ve more than doubled their water rates if the water had to be treated for fluoride.
Wichman calculates it would cost $3,000 per acre foot to purchase water rights and an equal amount of money for the expected legal battle before the Nevada Division of Water Resources.
Nye County would want to drill five wells, each capable of 1,500 gallons per minute, four wells running continuously and another as a backup. Each well is assumed to be 14 inches in diameter and 1,000 feet deep, costing $1 million apiece.
The pipeline cost was estimated at $120 per foot of pipe installed, or $44.35 million, which doesn’t account for any problem areas encountered like hard rock.
Eight lift stations were written into the budget at $1 million apiece as well.
The project would require 25 million gallons of water storage and would cost $12.5 million to construct five, 5 million gallon water tanks. Construction of new, overhead power was estimated at $100,000 per mile for 30 miles.
Administration, engineering and inspection costs were pegged at 25 percent of the project, or $20.7 million. Contingency is another 15 percent, or $15.5 million.
Wichman said the $24 per person cost of importing water, with interest, would add up to a lot for a family of three at about $72 per month. That doesn’t include the utility charges. But he said, “it’s unlikely you’re going to lay that whole project cost solely at the feet of 30,000 people.”
If the pipeline were funded through a series of projects and the customer base increased, Wichman said it might work.
Wichman said he based his report on interviews with the Nevada Division of Water Resources, contractors, hydrologists, attorneys, environmental compliance consultants and others.
Wichman recommended pulling together information on the groundwater from the Nye County Nuclear Waste Repository Office.
“My first recommendation is we have an uncertain future for the repository office as I understand it. You’ve got people working in those offices that have all the information gathered about the early warning drilling program, about all those holes that were drilled, the backup work, the geologic studies,” Wichman said. “The repository is no longer funded and in a year or two those people are scattered to the four winds. It’s going to be quite a bit of work gathering information on those drilling reports into something usable for a water exploration project.”
He also recommended taking a closer look at operations and maintenance for a pipeline to import water.
Wichman said he’s had discussions with Cameron McRae from the Nye County School District, about drilling their own well for irrigation, where it would cost 15 cents per 1,000 gallons to pump it from a golf course or a field. By contrast, in Tonopah it costs 92 cents per 1,000 gallons to pump water over a hill, he said.
While the talk of a pipeline is 20 years or more away, Wichman said, “rather than swallow the chicken whole, start doing a little here and a little there and start moving in that direction.”
Nye County Water Board General Manager Darrell Lacy said they picked Crater Flat because it was an area with some water not being heavily used and it’s not that far from Pahrump.
But he said, “When you start talking about importation you start talking about conflicts. Just about all the water out there someone is using it or has plans to use it.”
The nuclear waste repository program accumulated a lot of information, but mainly on water quality coming from Yucca Mountain, Lacy said. Nevertheless he said it could be useful as the basis for a study.
* Water board directors voted unanimously to extend Wichman’s contract another year. He will continue to work part-time, up to 80 hours per month, but his pay will increase from $40 to $48 per hour. The contract includes a clause not to exceed amount of $46,000 annually.
Wichman is the husband of Nye County District 1 Commissioner Lorinda Wichman.
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- Oz Wichman
A simple way to conserve our precious water is to stop requiring people who own water rights to pump water or lose their water rights. The solution is simple and Nye County didn’t have to pay me $48 per hr for the advice.
That is a state requirement. If you don’t like it, contact your representative in the state legislature and get them to change it. I don’t think they will, however. The best thing is for the water rights owners who do not exercise their water rights to forfeit them. It would be great if the state would buy the water rights, as well. Perhaps we could get them to do that, but I don’t think that will fly either.
Oh well.
People, Your not buying into this County crapola are you? This stinks from the word go. It makes me want to puke. This whole waterboard, the studies, and the amount of County involvement is a crock. It is full of misleading and guesstimated information. The County wants to build a pipeline to Pahrump based on Oz Wichmans consulting? And Darryl Lacey is telling us why based on the credible and accurate information provided by the state and yucca mt.? They are building false fears in the minds of residents not throughout Nye County but, just here in Pahrump. What is even more sick is giving this guy an annual contract as an ongoing consultant so now he gets to maintain a P/T time County job (making bank) after making him sound so invaluable to the northern county operations which it is now apparent that was only said to build up his street credit to get this BS Consulting position. $48 hr people. He makes more consulting a water pipeline to Pahrump than 80% of the people in Pahrump make all year. Go ahead Pahrumpian’s sit back and allow this. This is another reason the County pressed so hard to dissolve the Pahrump Town board. Control over Pahrump. There will never be a pipeline to Pahrump. Talk about Town Board waste, this is collusion and nepotism raging at our front doors.
When will the Town Board (and many others) realize that Pahrump cannot support a massive population and major commercial and industrial pursuits? THIS IS THE DESERT!
Everyone wants water, but there isn’t enough for all this stuff. We still see folks from all over (mainly California) who come to town and put is lush green lawns and landscaping that waste water. We had better wake up before the wells start going dry and the cost of water exceeds that of gasoline.
Louie DeCanio has a very good point. I know a property owner that has to pump 5 acre feet to keep his water rights, he propably would only use less than an acre foot normally. That is the same old catch 22 governments hand us all the time. Lets be smart for a change, do we really need this water or population growth. I moved here because it was a small community, with personal freedoms still in place. I was glad that Focus failed. Let us improve the quality of life. How about free WI-FI for every one in town, better roads to drive on, pave dirt roads to keep dust down?
I did not see anything in the article about radiation contamination. There has been reports that claim The Beatty water will have radiation seeping into their aquifer,is that true?
Oz Wichman is doing the job he was directed to do. So don’t kill the messenger.
I agree .. with ricktrr .. This is the desert and it has limits. If you want the BIG CITY and all its supports ……. MOVE THERE.
AND I surely agree with lawns being a waste of water. Stop trying to make Pahrump something it will hopefully never be…….. a big city…
I was told by the realtor who sold us our place that there was more than enough ground water to support 250,000 in Pahrump. Ten years later I find out this was malarky. One simple solution to all of this is to place a moratorium on new building, NOW before the developers pay off the county for more developing.
@ ricktrr & acw: Do you know why they call the 5 year rule the snooze you lose law?
Because the water we are using is not in a big storage tank 45 feet underground. It is sheet flow water and is more like sticking your cup in a flowing river except we use pumps and if we don’t take it out here its going on to mexico….personally i say grow baby grow…green is great. @acw the fact that the majority of people moving here want low maintenance and low bills keeps the amount of high water use landscape to a minimum it has nothing to do with being a big city…It has to do with having an option. Do not let the language and unfound expressions of a desperate need for water in Pahrump fool you. Remember Oz Wichman said it wont be for 20 or 50 years before it will be completed…like the unfinished roads in northern NYE county. Drive around town and see just how much non water and dead landscape there is in all the not on the market empty foreclosed or foreclosing homes. Now that is an issue that needs attention from planners and thinkers.
Hi All,
Here is one that you guys maybe don’t know about. The Nevada Supreme Court and our own gorified Water Board consider Water rights as Real Property. So why are they not taxed. Why are we paying the taxes on these water right holders. I sent an email to the Assessor and Treasurer with all the backup. Other people from the County did too. We heard nothing from them for weeks. I sent the same email to the Board of County Commissioners. And STILL HEARD NOTHING. After repeated emails we were told they are looking into to it. There is nothing to look into. The backup tells the story. Same old Sh** from the GOOD OLD BOYS network.
“Wichman said the $24 per person cost of importing water, with interest, would add up to a lot for a family of three at about $72 per month……The contract includes a clause not to exceed amount of $46,000 annually.”
But not for a family that has a well in their backyard! If my “figuring” is correct, my share of this cost should be about “ZERO”. By then though, “logic” will have become extinct and well-owners will be vilified.
BTW, who does my wife have to sleep with to get that kind of part-time job?….Just askin’
In answer to your last question, I guess a BOCC member. Oz Wichman did the same job as part of his duties as a county employee in the Public Works Department. When Mrs. Oz got herself elected to the board, he retired (I don’t know if he got bought out or not) and proceeded to get himself hired by the BOCC (thank you wifey) and do the same thing for $48 an hour. Pretty good gig, huh?
Why do we need Oz? We have the state engineer and they have already told us the goes in is less that the goes out to our aqifier.
So my question is why do we keep voting idiots into elected positions?
These people have no clue and this Dr. Waters person made the most stupid statement as he doesn’t know much about this Burning Man thing but it sounds like fun.
Our elected officials are just loons, once the get into power they lose their minds.
I am new here to Pahrump, only moving here in 2008. I moved from Tucson, Arizona and have a perspective to offer this community. Tucson city officials and local activists, tried to limit the population of Tucson in many ways from the 70′s thru the 90′s. Water, business licenses, regulation, zoning, roads, etc. All was to keep the city small and endearing. None of it worked. When you have a nice place to live, and I consider Pahrump a very nice place to live, people will move there. Now Tucson has lots of problems and spending a lot more money than it should to make up for years, even decades, of failed attempts to keep the city small. Roads and infrastructure that should have been done long ago for far less money are having to be done now at inflated costs and a lot of disruption to the community. I’m not advocating the water pipe line one way or the other, I’m saying that using such things as water and water rights to limit a towns population is a false solution that will always fail.
Also I wanted to comment about Wichman doing the work. Since this person is related to a board member they should be barred from getting any such contracts. (In fact most places I have lived such situations are illegal.) Wichman may or may not be qualified. Either way it’s irrelevant. The reason it’s wrong to award such contracts to people who have a relationship to a board member is that it creates “at least the appearance of impropriety.” Note I did not say it was improper, but it creates at least an appearance of impropriety. The reason this is wrong is that all the work performed and advice advocated will always be questioned as to whether it’s valid work. When you hire a consultant and their advice is questioned from the start, by even a small percentage of the people, it makes that consultant’s work worthless. Wichman should never have gotten the contract and should recuse himself from future work. There are plenty of qualified people who can do the work so that everyone will have at least a starting position everyone can believe in.