State engineer sets hearing on Truckee River dispute

Monday, Nov. 17, 1997 | 12:47 p.m.

Churchill County officials have asked Turnipseed to cancel certain Reno-area river water rights on grounds that they haven't been used for years. They maintain the rights should be forfeited to downstream users such as Pyramid Lake and their agricultural county.

But Bob Jones, executive director of the Builders Association of Northern Nevada, said most development could stop here if the dispute drags on or Churchill prevails.

He said he's trying to arrange a meeting with Churchill officials in an effort to resolve the dispute without going through Turnipseed.

"I don't understand why they're willing to push this hard," Jones told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "Our people are getting really mad ... We've got to find out if there's something we can do."

Churchill officials said they filed the request as a matter of principle.

The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe is trying to get Churchill water rights canceled for the same reason so more water will flow into Pyramid Lake.

Churchill officials said it's unfair that the tribe isn't going after Reno-area water rights. That dispute has been tied up in federal courts for 13 years.

Under Nevada law, the county will have to provide clear evidence that the water rights haven't been used for many years and that their owners intended to abandon them.

Churchill is questioning the validity of water rights owned by Barker Homes, Bighorn Development, Coleman Development, Nevdex Inc., Sierra Pacific Power Co., the cities of Reno and Sparks, and Washoe County.

"I don't know what they have for evidence and I want to see what it is - whether it's tax notices or aerial photography," Turnipseed said, adding he hopes to reach a decision on some cases by mid 1998.

Janet Carson, Sierra Pacific's director of water policy, said she's confident that Reno-area water rights will be declared valid.

However, she expects it to take several years for the state engineer and courts to resolve the dispute.