Tribe to begin water battle

Monday, Nov. 20, 2000 | 11:20 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A battle begins Dec. 8 in Las Vegas in the bid by the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians to claim 7,000 acre feet of underground water to allow construction of a major power plant.

State Engineer Hugh Ricci has set that date for a public hearing on the application by the tribe, which want the state to declare that the preferred use of the first 7,000 acre feet drawn from the underground reservoir be for cooling the power plant.

There are several competing applications, including one from the Las Vegas Valley Water District, to reserve the use of the underground water.

Ricci said the issue at the hearing is only on the preferred use of the water. But if Ricci grants that application, that would give the Indians a leg up in their bid to acquire the water rights.

Calpine Energy Co., of Pleasanton, Calif., has announced plans for a 750-megawatt facility on the reservation northeast of Las Vegas.

Ricci said the hearing will last only one day, and he will make a decision later. If he rules in favor of the tribe, he still must approve their application for the water rights.

The Moapa band made it clear that its application does not mean it consents to state jurisdiction over reservation lands.

"The tribe is pursuing this approach in a good faith effort to resolve outstanding water issues in a timely manner, which will permit it to go forward with needed on-reservation development while minimizing unproductive disputes with the state," Richard Berley, the tribe's Seattle-based lawyer, said.

Berley said the application "does not waive any claims that its water rights are reserved rights as a date-of-reservation priority date."

The power plant would be on the western side of the reservation. The tribe says the water may be limited in this area and it must be used "in a manner which yields the greatest value to the tribe and its membership." The highest and best use of the water, the tribe maintains, would be for the cooling of the power plant. The hearing begins at 10 a.m. at the Sawyer State Building, 555 East Washington Ave., Room 4401.