Judge signs water deal after issue floated five years in the courts

Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2000 | 10:51 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A final decree has been signed by a district judge settling the ownership and priorities on underground water rights in the Las Vegas Valley.

The issue was in the courts for five years before District Judge Sally Loehrer recently approved the final decision.

"This identifies the owners, the amount of water they're entitled to, the point of diversion and the manner in which the water can be used," state Deputy Attorney General David Creekman said. "All water rights in the Las Vegas Valley have now been settled."

Creekman said Tuesday there were more than 130 parties involved in the litigation, including the Las Vegas Valley Water District, the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe, the U.S. Air Force, the Department of Interior and numerous private parties, including cabaret owner Jack Galardi and Gary and Greg Primm of the Primm casinos.

"If anyone is unhappy, they can appeal to the Nevada Supreme court," Creekman said. "The state is not going to appeal. We're happy with the results," which confirms the water rights for a number of state parks and recreation areas in Southern Nevada.

Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa said, "This case involved significant factual issues that required the office of the state engineer to dig deeply into the history of ground water use in the Las Vegas areas in order to determine when and how these rights were originally initiated.

"Once the factual issues were settled, many of the parties challenged a number of legal points, including the ability of the state of Nevada to enter into settlements of water-rights disputes with some of the parties, and the applicability of the law of forfeiture to ground water rights," Del Papa said.

This case represents Nevada's first and only attempt to adjudicate ground water rights. Del Papa said it is significant because of the way the various parties worked together to conclude the proceeding.

"The Las Vegas ground water basin is the most heavily impacted ground water basin in the state of Nevada," Del Papa said. "The people of Las Vegas rely on the basin for certainty and stability in supplementing the Las Vegas area's Colorado River entitlement to water."