Basin-wide utility would face political hurdles

Discussions about water planning often arouse fears among Pahrump residents of having to cap wells and hook up to a single utility some day.

A possible basin-wide utility was explored in a water supply appraisal completed by Glorieta Geoscience and presented to the Nye County Water District board last week. The consultants recommended an aquifer storage and recovery project as the best alternative to meet growing water demand. They also considered constructing a pipeline to import water, land development regulations, a basin-wide utility and no action at all.

A basin-wide water utility has the potential to better control and significantly reduce water use, as well as provide incentives for conservation through tiered rates, consultants said. A utility company could implement a sewage reuse program that would allow treated effluent to be used for irrigating parks, golf courses, green spaces or recharging into the aquifer through rapid infiltration basins, like Utilities Inc. of Central Nevada uses their treated effluent to water local golf courses. The creation of a basin-wide utility would involve constructing wells, water and sewer lines and sewage treatment facilities.

But consultants stated the obvious. “Formation of a basin-wide utility, a condition of which would be requiring domestic well users to connect to the utility, would almost certainly meet with resistance from the community. This resistance would probably be strong enough to prevent a basin-wide utility from being formed, unless or until water levels declined to the point where a large number of domestic wells dried up.”

Consultants pointed out problems that could arise from developing a utility for the entire Pahrump groundwater basin. There would be limits on the fundraising ability of the county, a long time frame for a full build out, potential difficulties implementing a tax that would result in domestic well owners paying for infrastructure to provide water they previously obtained from their wells, the patchwork layout of current utilities could make interconnections challenging and there may be difficulties acquiring the existing utilities in the Pahrump Basin.

Pahrump Utility Company offered its system for sale to Nye County, but county commissioners turned down the offer. There haven’t been moves publicly by the county to acquire two other utility systems in Pahrump Valley — Utilities Inc. of Central Nevada and Desert Utilities. All told, there are 16 community water systems in Pahrump that have approximately 30,050 acre feet per year of water rights and serve 13,695 residents, Glorieta Geoscience said.

Consultants said the creation of a basin-wide utility or an aquifer recovery program would be necessary before the county could import water. But they said the cost of a water importation project pumping for example 5,000 acre feet of water per year into Pahrump Valley from 70 miles away that could serve 30,000 people consuming 150 gallons per day, could cost $172.5 million, when permitting, water rights, engineering, construction of wells, pipelines, booster stations, storage tanks and power costs are included. Pipeline installation alone would cost $46.9 million.The cost divided by 30,000 people would amount to a fee of $12.15 per month over 40 years.

Economic and permitting make it extremely unlikely a water importation project could be implemented in 10 years, but it’s possible within 20 years, consultants said. They said there are no guarantees where or how deep the county could find the quantity of water to meet demand and of the quality to meet drinking water standards.

Nye County is in a good position to create countywide voluntary conservation, consultants said, through public education and rebate programs for installing water reducing plumbing devices like aerators, shower heads and hose shutoff valves. Consultants said the Santa Fe, N.M., water utility measured a 29 percent reduction in water use through conservation while the metered customer base grew 14 percent. If water conservation reduced water use 20 percent over 10 years, it would reduce usage by 2,653 acre feet.

The largest existing water utility in Pahrump is Utilities Inc. of Central Nevada. Glorieta Geoscience estimates they serve 10,821 of the 36,995 Pahrump residents with 4,125 residential connections and 310 commercial connections. UICN diverted 3,625 acre feet of water in 2010, consultants said, about 14 percent of the ground water allowed in their permit.

Pahrump Utility Company Inc. provides water service to 471 metered customers, of which 464 are residential. Desert Utilities Inc. has 467 service connections in the northern Pahrump Valley, but also two schools, a nursing home and convenience store. Both of these utility companies have abundant vacant land for future subdivisions, consultants said.

Aquifer recovery involves drawing water from springs east of Pahrump, piping it and injecting it up gradient from areas of greatest draw down of water.

The study reviewed the alternative of imposing land restrictions, including increasing the amount of water rights that have to be retired for future subdivisions. Consultants warned about political ramifications of restricting domestic well use. The Nye County Water District is studying a proposal to restrict the subdivision of land to parcels five acres or greater. Glorieta Geoscience said there are 29,288 vacant parcels of less than 10 acres, 21,613 parcels are less than one acre, while 5,905 parcels are between one and 2 1/2 acres that could potentially install a well.

Glorieta Geoscience advocated low impact development and green infrastructure. For example, storm water runoff could be treated as a resource rather than a waste product.

A water supply appraisal is an analysis of domestic, municipal and industrial water supply problems, needs and opportunities. Consultants concluded without action in the future, “the declining water levels will lead to increased cost for drilling and pumping water from wells and property damage from land subsidence.”

Consultants concluded: “Securing a water supply in the Pahrump Basin as the population continues to grow was identified as the most important issue facing the Nye County Water District.”

The study also looked at water quality. Consultants said nitrate contamination is a concern in areas with a close proximity of septic systems and shallow domestic wells. In addition, many water systems have aging, undersized or poorly constructed infrastructure that are in need of repair.

Three privately-owned community water systems, Big Five Park, Big Valley Mobile Home Park and C Valley Mobile Home Park are out of compliance on water right permit issues. Shoshone Estates in Big Smoky Valley had water quality issues.