‘Lesser of two evils’ — Water board supports applications to shift solar water pumpage

A large swath of land straddling the borders of Nye and Clark County is being targeted by developers aiming to construct commercial-scale solar generation facilities — and one of the resources those developers need as they move forward is water.

Despite local officials’ opposition to the concept of using Pahrump’s limited water to supply solar projects that area residents have made clear they do not want, there seems to be little they can do to put a stop to it. As such, the Nye County Water District is now supporting a series of applications made to the Nevada State Engineer’s Office to allow for existing water rights to be moved and utilized at a location that will have the least detriment to Basin No. 162’s groundwater levels.

“RFC Holdings LLC, Wulfco LLC, Harris Ltd., Mid-Valley Enterprises LLC and Time to Celebrate LLC, through their agent, Resource Concepts Inc., filed application 93783 on July 26, 2024 and applications 93837 through 93844 on August 21, 2024. The applications propose to change the point of diversion, place and manner of use appropriated under the base right,” a letter to the county from Resource Concepts Acting Water Rights Director Jake Echeverria read. “The existing point of if diversion and place of use of the base right are currently within Nye County; the proposed place of use for the applications are within both Clark and Nye County.”

Opening a discussion on the matter during the Nye County Water District Governing Board’s Tuesday, Oct. 8 meeting, water district general manager Dann Weeks explained that the district itself does not have any authority when it comes to applications. Rather, the item was intended to formalize the water board’s stance, which would then be forwarded to Nye County, which can actively participate in the process as the applications move forward.

“Is it offensive that our water is going to be used to build solar plants in Clark County? Yes, that offends me. But I don’t see any manner in which we can throttle that. This is the lesser of two evils,” Weeks explained last week. “What this movement of water is, is a gathering of waters from various locations — a large portion of it is from the Wulfenstein (gravel) pit - and moving this water south, thereby diverting the pumpage from the northern part of the valley, where we have our greatest decline of water levels, to an existing well on the south end of the valley (where declines are least).

“While I know there are a lot of opinions about solar development and the use of water, people who own water, that is legal water for the use of construction, have a right to use that water. Protesting that, I think is just wasted breath,” Weeks continued. “I know you don’t like the idea of Basin No. 162 water being used in Clark County. I’m not a big fan of it either. But I don’t believe we have any authority in order to change that fact.”

The applications apparently came about as a result of the protests filed by both Nye County and the water district against the trucking of water from the Wulfenstein gravel pit to solar fields currently under construction just east of the Nye County border. The proposal to change the point of use is intended to provide a solution that is amenable to all parties.

“The sooner this water movement is off our highways, the better it is for the community. Truck transportation is a burden to the community,” water board member Helene Williams remarked as the item drew to a close. “It’s in the best interest of our community… I definitely would like to move forward.”

Williams then made a motion to offer support for the applications, which passed 4-0.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com