LV well owners sue in bid to keep wells open

Grace Leong

Friday, Oct. 27, 2000 | 11:39 a.m.

The Nevada Well Owners Association is seeking a court order to force the Southern Nevada Water Authority to release a list of names and addresses of Las Vegas Valley well owners to gain support against what the association called "an unjust law that allows the state water engineer to shut down wells without cause."

In a Clark County District Court lawsuit against the Water Authority, the Well Owners association alleged its repeated refusal to provide the list is "arbitrary or capricious" because the list is compiled from public information with taxpayers' funds and isn't gathered from well-users who expected privacy.

Water Authority officials said in a July 14 letter to Robert Tretiak, the association's vice-president, they refused to disclose the names and addresses because they want to protect the privacy of listed well owners. They said they issued mailers to well owners asking if they wanted their names released since the "right to privacy is vested in the well owners themselves."

The Water Authority, in an Aug. 25 letter to Tretiak, said it received approval from only 10.6 percent or 258 well owners out of 2,427 responses.

The suit said the list, which also includes the "location of wells and the place of use of well or water permits," was compiled and used by the water authority to assess and collect fees from ground water users to recharge the Las Vegas Valley groundwater basin, stabilize the water table and prevent contamination.

Domestic well owners now pay an annual $30 fee.

But Tretiak disputed the Water Authority's claims, saying the association needed a list of names and addresses of all Las Vegas Valley well owners to contact and educate them about their rights and responsibilities.

"The state engineer testified in the state Legislature that he intends to shut down all wells in Clark County to wean well owners off the use of the aquifer," he said. "That means the well owners will eventually have to pay $5,000 to condemn their wells and another $15,000-$25,000 to hook up to the water (pipeline). Meanwhile, most well owners, who moved into areas that weren't serviced by the water (authority), already incurred $20,000 to sink a well."

"This is not about water conservation but shifting from a self-supply system to a more expensive method of getting water. And this could have a chilling effect on the value of well owners' homes."

Water Authority officials could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit.