Nevada officials discuss water ahead of legislative session

LAS VEGAS — The state’s Legislative Commission’s Subcommittee to Study Water continued discussions about potential bill draft requests ahead of the Nevada Legislature session that begins in less than a year.

Some of the day-long discussion included proposals that could impact domestic well owners in the state, including in Pahrump.

“This committee is our chance to influence changes to law that can benefit Pahrump and allow us to include protections for current domestic wells in the groundwater management plan,” Nye County Water District General Manager Darrell Lacy said.

The third meeting of the subcommittee was held at the Grant Sawyer Building in Las Vegas and brought five members of the Nevada Legislature together on Friday.

Nye County representatives state Sen. Pete Goicoechea and state Assemblyman James Oscarson were in attendance.

The subcommittee has been gathering information from different groups and will work on recommendations for future legislation during its final meeting in August.

Fifty-six of Nevada’s water basins are severely over-allocated, according to Great Basin Water Network. That means that there isn’t enough water to meet the water rights that the state has dished out.

“One of the big questions is how to get those basins back in equilibrium,” said Howard Watts, communications specialist with Great Basin Water Network, an organization that was formed in 2006 to protect rural water at its source and promote sustainable and transparent water policies.

The Pahrump Valley currently has 60,000 acre feet of paper water rights to pump water issued by the state, which is now overseen by Nevada State Engineer Jason King. The valley has approximately 20,000 acre feet of recharge annually.

Lacy said Pahrump has the largest concentration of domestic wells in Nevada, yet most of those wells are junior in priority to water rights in the valley.

“The large number of domestic wells make Pahrump unique so we may need exceptions to the general rule,” Lacy said.

Under state law, the domestic wells would be the first pumping to be curtailed.

The state law focuses on water rights, seniority and proof of beneficial use.

Greg Dann, chairman of the Nye County Water District Governing Board, declined to comment on the meeting, but said it was “very educational.”

In a letter, King encouraged the subcommittee to consider legislation to provide an exception to the current law that would require complete curtailment of junior priority domestic wells if curtailment by priority was required in a groundwater basin.

“The state engineer encourages this committee to consider legislation that continues to refine Nevada water law and provide flexibility in the development and acceptance of groundwater management plans, whether in a Critical Management Area or not,” the letter said.

Several other issues considered by the subcommittee include surface water and groundwater, perennial yield or the amount water that a basin can provide each year without decreasing, and beneficial use of water rights.

Meanwhile, Watts said Great Basin Water Network hopes for a few things.

“(First), we want to make sure that the laws aren’t weakened by those who would like to see more unsustainable growth or gain from a weakening of senior water rights,” Watts said. “Second, we think some stronger legal language needs to be put into place to emphasize the water rights of natural water features and plants, which provide many benefits to the state.”

The subcommittee plans to hold a meeting in Pahrump in July.

Contact reporter Daria Sokolova at dsokolova@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @dariasokolova77