(Nevada News Bureau) – Nevada State Engineer Jason King today announced additional locations for public comment during the upcoming Southern Nevada Water Authority water-rights hearings.
The hearing is scheduled for multiple weeks beginning Sept. 26. Public comment is scheduled for Oct. 7 starting at 8 a.m. and will be video cast from several locations. The locations for public comment are the Nevada Legislative Building in Carson City, Room 1214; the Grant Sawyer State Office Building in Las Vegas, Room 4412; and the Great Basin College in Ely, Room 112.
At left, groundwater basin locations for SNWA applications.
Written public comments are also being accepted until 5 p.m. on Dec. 2. Comments should be addressed to the attention of Susan Joseph-Taylor, chief hearing officer, Office of the State Engineer, 901 South Stewart Street, Suite 2002, Carson City, Nevada 89701.
The hearing will be broadcast by audio and video on the internet from the Nevada Legislature.
The hearing will be held during normal business hours. The schedule of case presentations is:
– Sept. 26 through Oct. 6: Opening statements and Southern Nevada Water Authority
– Oct. 7: Public comment.
– Oct. 10-14: Southern Nevada Water Authority.
– Oct. 31: Henry Vogler, Juab County, Utah, Millard County, Utah (protestants).Nov. 1: EskDale Center, Great Basin Water Network (protestants).
– Nov. 2-10: Great Basin Water Network (protestant).
– Nov. 14 and 15: Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation, Duckwater Shoshone Tribe, Ely Shoshone Tribe (protestants).
– Nov.16: Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (protestant).
– Nov. 17: Long Now Foundation (protestant).
– Nov. 18: Closing arguments.
Hearing Background
In 1989, theLas Vegas Valley Water District filed 146 water-right applications to appropriate nearly all of the unappropriated groundwater in 27 hydrographic basins, for a total appropriation of 180,000 acre-feet of groundwater. It later withdrew 32 applications from 10 of the basins and other applications were transferred to Lincoln County. Most of the applications have been assigned to the Southern Nevada Water Authority, which was created after the filing of the applications.
Permits were granted on applications filed in Spring Valley, Cave Valley, Delamar Valley and Dry Lake Valley; however, the Nevada Supreme Court held that the statutory process for postponing action on the applications had not been followed and remanded consideration of the applications back to the State Engineer with the requirement that the protest period be re-opened. The applications were republished in early 2011, which re-opened the protest period, and the new hearing does not include Snake Valley.
The total acre-feet of groundwater requested by SNWA from Delamar, Dry Lake, Cave and Spring Valleys is 125,976 acre-feet. There are applications pending in other hydrographic basins that have not been acted on, and the protest period on those applications will also be re-opened when the State Engineer is ready to move forward with action on those applications.
Information
More information, including documents, exhibits and groundwater basin inventories, is available online.
Nevada Water Law
An overview of Nevada water law is also available.
