Water authority to appeal ruling on water use

By Cy Ryan

Published Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009 | 12:41 p.m.

Updated Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009 | 6:01 p.m.

CARSON CITY – The Southern Nevada Water Authority intends to appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court a judge’s ruling that would stop it from pumping 18,755 acre feet of water a year from portions of rural eastern Nevada.

“The decision was flat wrong,” says Scott Huntley, public information manager for the authority. “It upends Nevada water law of the last century.”

Huntley said there were “plenty of grounds for appeal” and the authority will ask for approval from its board of directors at the Nov. 19 meeting.

The ruling should not, at the present time, delay plans for construction of the pipeline to pull water from various parts of rural Nevada. Huntley said an environmental assessment still must be completed.

Bob Conrad, communication director for the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, said the ruling of Senior District Judge Norman Robison is still being studied by the state.

Robison said the decision of state Engineer Tracy Taylor was “arbitrary, oppressive and a manifest abuse of discretion.” He remanded the application of the water industry to Taylor for further consideration.

A spokesman for the water authority was not immediately available for comment.

The applications were filed in 1989 to draw the water from Cave, Dry Lake and Delamar Valleys to serve the growing population in Southern Nevada. Taylor issued his ruling in 2008 and developer Cave Valley Ranch appealed to the district court.

Taylor estimated an annual need of 0.5 percent acre feet per year for each home. The judge says state law set and allocation of 2 acre feet for a domestic well.

Judge Robison said the decision of Tracy on this issue was purely his best guess.

“This by definition was arbitrary, particularly where only 0.5 acre-feet per year per projected residential house was reserved for future growth even though 2 acre feet per year is the allowable residential use,” the judge said.

Robison said the state engineer failed to provide evidence of how more water would be available in the future. He said the ruling by the state fails to offer a “clear understanding” on the future consequences.

The judge said, “Thus, the state engineer’s ruling results in an oppressive consequence for the basins affected…”

Meanwhile a Utah-Nevada committee is continuing to study the application of the water district to draw 50,000 acre feet from the Snake Valley.

The committee reached a preliminary report, then opened it up to public comment. Allen Biaggi, director of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, said those comments are being considered before issuing its final report.