Final decison near on valley’s ground water

Friday, Nov. 30, 2001 | 10:08 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A final decree regarding who owns ground water rights in the Las Vegas Valley is near. The decision would end a case that dates to the mid-1990s.

Deputy Attorney General Paul Taggart said Thursday this would have a "big impact" on economic development in Southern Nevada, for example.

The Nevada Supreme Court this week dismissed an appeal by nine parties, including the Las Vegas Valley Water District and developers in Clark County, who had challenged a decision by the state engineer's office.

An out-of-court settlement has been reached by the parties, and the Supreme Court sent the case back to District Judge Sally Loehrer. The settlement ends the last controversy over the water rights, and Loehrer is now free to approve a final decree setting forth the ownership of all water rights, the amount of water and the seniority of the rights in the Las Vegas Valley, which is not limited to the nine parties involved.

This decree cements the rights of the well owners named in the document, state officials said.

After 1939 anyone who wanted to use underground water had to apply to the state Engineer's Office for a permit. Before 1939 people drilled wells and used the water, claiming a vested right.

Former State Engineer Mike Turnipseed, who is now director of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, started hearings in 1995. One goal was to determine, among other things, who had legitimate rights to water under the pre-1939 system and if these individuals or companies had put the water to beneficial use.

Turnipseed said Thursday this decree will affect thousands of water users in the Las Vegas Valley and deals "with historic rights." It was one of the largest cases he ever has handled as state engineer, he said.

It started when an Indian tribe started drilling wells for a golf course in the northwest part of the valley, he said. The tribe came in to file their claim on water, and a settlement was reached, said Turnipseed.

From there, Turnipseed said, the staff started looking at the overall Las Vegas Valley.

"We had to identify the wells and what they were being used for and who owned them," Turnipseed said. And he adjudicated the various claims.

This decree, Turnipseed said, puts into law what residents are entitled to from the underground water system and what that water can be used for.

In 1992 Turnipseed "closed" the Las Vegas Valley area to drilling of more wells, except for certain minor withdrawals. Since then a person or company must acquire the water rights of another, because new wells are not permitted.

This decree, Turnipseed said, applies to underground water and a few minor streams. It does not involve Colorado River water.

This decree is similar to ones in Northern Nevada on the Humboldt River, the Carson River and the Orr Ditch that runs through Reno, Turnipseed said.