Paiutes lose round in bid to claim ground water

Friday, Dec. 29, 2000 | 10:51 a.m.

The state engineer has for now denied a request by Paiute Indians in Moapa for ground water in order to build a power plant on their reservation.

Ground water is scarce in the area, and State Engineer Hugh Ricci, in a letter dated Dec. 26, said he cannot decide if there is enough deep water available for the tribe's request.

"This is not a process that will or should take place quickly," Ricci wrote.

Representatives of the Paiute tribe and the energy company that would build the natural-gas fired plant are vowing to continue seeking permits to secure 7,000 acre-feet of ground water to operate a 750-megawatt facility. A plant that size could serve the power needs of 100,000 people.

Ricci noted that the source of the ground water could come from interconnected basins, in which water, deposited by rain at the surface, has been accumulating deep under the ground for about 10,000 years, geologists say.

But information on the deep aquifer on the reservation is insufficient to declare its use for a power plant, Ricci said.

The Paiutes, whose reservation is 45 miles northeast of Las Vegas, are battling competitors for the water, including Nevada Power Co., the Las Vegas Valley Water District and the Moapa Valley Water District.

Calpine Corp. of Pleasanton, Calif., would build the 750-megawatt generating station on the reservation. The company needs water to cool the plant's generators.

Ricci listened to arguments from the tribe and others on Dec. 8 concerning the preferred use of the ground water.

The highest and best use of the water, the Paiutes said, would be for cooling the power plant, which could supply electricity to Las Vegas or be sold out of state. To the tribe a power plant would mean jobs and income for the poverty-stricken reservation.

In addition to requesting permission from the state to reserve the ground water, the tribe has claimed it has ancestral rights to the water dating back at least 1,000 years.

Ricci said he will set a pre-hearing conference on the applications for mid-February.

Tribal attorney Steve Chestnut of Seattle said he had no comment on the state engineer's action.

Calpine also had no comment on Ricci's action at this time.