Why Nye County wants Clark County to help stop solar projects

Nye County is turning to its neighbors to the east for aid in protecting Pahrump’s water, with a letter to the Clark County Commission imploring that body to deny any solar development applications that would utilize the Pahrump Valley’s already strained water resources.

Pahrump sits atop Basin #162, which is the population’s sole source of water but the confines of that basin are not limited to the town itself. The boundaries of the basin extend over the county line into Clark County, where Yellow Pine Solar is currently under construction and where several other solar companies are hoping to start operations in the future.

Nye County officials have already made it clear they will do everything they can to stop solar development on the Pahrump side of the county line but they have no jurisdiction over the border and therefore, must rely on Clark County’s leaders to take the county’s position into consideration.

Nye County Natural Resources Director Megan Labadie prepared the letter and presented it to the Nye County Commission for its stamp of approval during its first board meeting of 2024.

“We’re just requesting that they work with us, so we can take care of our water resources,” Labadie stated on Jan. 3.

Nye County Commissioner Bruce Jabbour remarked that he felt the letter would be most effective if it was presented directly to the Clark County Commission as an item on that body’s agenda and Labadie said she’d be happy to arrange that. Two of the Nye County commissioners will accompany her for that presentation as well.

Commissioner Frank Carbone, who had requested the letter, made motion to approve, which passed with all in favor.

“Let’s just hope it gets the message to them, so we can start the conversation,” Carbone stated.

The letter begins by acknowledging the Biden administration’s goals for an achieving carbon-pollution free power sector, noting that Nevada is one of the states where much of renewable energy development will take place. As the solar industry continues to boom, Nye County is working on a plan that will provide for locations within its boundaries that are suitable for such development but one location that will not be part of that plan is Pahrump.

“A significant factor plaguing the county is the availability of water resources to support orderly growth,” the letter reads. “There is substantial interest in and development of solar facilities along the Nye and Clark County border within the Pahrump Hydrographic Basin #162. The cumulative development and construction of these sites significantly impact Pahrump’s water supply. The board beseeches the Clark County Board of County Commissioners to reject the applications affecting Basin #162 to lessen the resource burdens on the Pahrump community.”

As many already know, Pahrump’s Basin #162 is one of the most over appropriated basins in Nevada, with more than 60,000 acre feet of paper water rights issued but just a third of that in estimated annual recharge. There are roughly 11,000 existing domestic wells drawing from the aquifer as well.

“In addition, the community of Pahrump has available deeded lands in sufficient amount to support a population of 495,000 while the published basin perennial yield of 20,000 acre feet could support a population of approximately only 80,000,” the letter details. “Groundwater levels continue to fall in the basin with domestic well failures increasing annually.

“Due to current binding Building Development Agreements, inside of the confines of the Pahrump Regional Planning District amounting to over 9,400 new homes to be built within the basin over the next several years, the water resources of Basin #162 are fully committed and any further allocations for non-residential use will cause irreparable harm to the basin and the community,” the letter continues. “Nye County hopes that our neighbors and partners in the Clark County Board of County Commissioners will consider the peril Nye County’s largest community faces from over-development of water resources… Denying applications and offering re-siting of renewable energy facilities will greatly increase our quality of life by preserving our limited and precious resources.”

To view the letter in full visit NyeCountyNV.gov and reference item #21 on the Jan. 3 agenda.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com