• About Us
  • Activity
  • Advertising
  • Books
  • Business
  • Contact
  • EB5
  • Entertainment
  • feedback
  • Government
  • Home
  • Interviews
  • Members
  • National
  • Nevada
  • Nevada News and Views
  • Newsmax
  • NN&V Ads
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Polls
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe
  • Subscription Confirmation
  • Survey
  • Survey
  • Terms of Service
  • Today’s Top 10
  • Travel
  • Travel
  • Travel
  • Welcome!
  • Yop Poll Archive
Nevada News and Views
  • Home
  • Muth’s Truths
  • Politics
  • Government
  • Entertainment
  • More
    • Nevada
    • Opinion
    • Business
    • Travel
    • News
    • Sports
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Pinterest

  • RSS

Featured Article

Nevada church continues 9-year legal fight with government over water rights

Nevada church continues 9-year legal fight with government over water rights
The Center Square
December 18, 2019

Pastor Victor Fuentes with his wife Annette.
Courtesy of Mountain States Legal Foundation

A church congregation in rural Nevada is continuing its 9-year legal fight over water rights with government agencies.

Ministerio Roca Solida, a small church located in Pahrump, Nevada, in 2006 purchased a 40-acre plot of land in the Amargosa Valley. The congregation used the property, which included a stream running through it, for baptisms and church retreats – “an oasis,” as Pastor Victor Fuentes called the property.

But in 2010 the church’s “oasis” changed when the the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service diverted a part of the same stream on nearby federal land. USFWS said the diversion was part of a restoration project that could help an endangered fish.

That diversion has caused flooding on the church’s property whenever it rains significantly, causing damage to the property, attorneys for the church say. They also claim that USFW diverted the water without doing the proper environmental assessments.

“It’s completely changed what [Ministerio Roca Solida] are able to do out there – their ability to help people and minister to people,” said Cody Wisniewski, an attorney for the Colorado-based Mountain States Legal Foundation, which is handling the case.

A federal court ruled that the water diversion and subsequent property damage didn’t constitute a taking or property, but allowed the church’s case to proceed on grounds of the flooding. Lawyers for the federal agency have argued that the water diversion didn’t cause the flooding on the church’s property and that flooding was not “reasonably foreseeable” when the agency began the restoration project.

The churchalso made its case in an administrative hearing last week before the Nevada State Engineer to establish water rights on its property.

While the federal court said the church doesn’t have established water rights, Wisniewski says the Nevada State Engineer can still determine water rights within the state.

The state’s engineer previously determined that the church had a plausible water right, but the church would like that right to be changed to allow for different usage.

The church submitted a proof of vested water rights that proves the property benefited from water use for irrigation prior to 1905, and asked the Nevada State Engineer to change its water right from irrigation uses to domestic and recreational uses.

“At the end of the day, the Nevada State Engineer has the ability to determine whether or not our claim is plausible,” Wisniewski said. “If it is plausible, then they can approve the change application, which would then require under Nevada state law a certain flow of water be delivered back to the church camp.”

It will likely be several months before the engineer makes a decision, Wisniewski said.

Baptism pond on Ministerio Roca Solida property after diversion.
Courtesy of Mountain States Legal Foundation

Baptism pond on Ministerio Roca Solida property before diversion.
Courtesy of Mountain States Legal Foundation

Prev postNext post

Related ItemsChurchFeatured ArticlegovernmentNevadaRights
Featured Article
December 18, 2019
The Center Square

Related ItemsChurchFeatured ArticlegovernmentNevadaRights

More in Featured Article

Falling water level reveals human remains at Lake Mead twice in one week

The Center SquareMay 11, 2022
Read More

So You Want to Know Where the Route 91 Harvest Festival Money Is?

N&V StaffMay 10, 2022
Read More

Democratic governor’s group pledges $75 million to reelect seven governors

The Center SquareMay 9, 2022
Read More

Lake Powell operators to withhold water to protect hydroelectric power

The Center SquareMay 5, 2022
Read More

More on the Nevada GOP’s Fouled-Up Pre-Primary Endorsement Process

N&V StaffMay 3, 2022
Read More

Nevada GOP Convention: A Super Bowl of Embarrassment for Trump-Backed Candidates

N&V StaffMay 1, 2022
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Subscribe Free By Email

Looking for the best in breaking news and conservative views? Let Chuck do all the work for you! Subscribe to his FREE "Muth's Truths" e-newsletter.

* indicates required
Nevada News and Views
Nevada News & Views is an educational project of Citizen Outreach Foundation, a non-partisan IRS-approved 501(c)(3) organization. It is not associated or affiliated with any political party or group. Nevada News & Views is accessible by the public at no cost. It funds its operations through tax-deductible contributions from donors and supporters and does not accept government money or grants.

TAGS

Featured Article Nevada Politics business Muth's Truths government Government Opinion Obama Muth’s Truths Ron Knecht News Donald Trump GOP Republicans

Copyright © 2021 Citizen Outreach | Maintained by VirtualAlly

Christmas Through the Years
Every Swamp Needs an Ogre; Meet the Badlands’ “Schreck”