Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Coyote Springs water request comes under fire

Nevada Power Co. and the National Park Service are protesting the request of a former military contractor who has asked the state for millions of gallons of water in Coyote Springs.

Aerojet General Corp., which owns 42,000 acres in Coyote Springs, asked the state engineer in July for 36,196 acre feet of ground water to develop homes, hotels and recreation facilities such as a golf course there.

Aerojet is negotiating with Coyote Springs Investment Limited Liability Co. for the land and water rights. Coyote Springs Investment LLC is owned by Reno developer David Loeb and Nevada gaming lobbyist Harvey Whittemore. Loeb has developed Wingfield Springs, a master-planned golf community in Reno.

Coyote Springs Project Manager Gary Derck said the deal for Aerojet's land and some water should be completed by May.

The investment company is planning today to sell 7,500 acre feet of Coyote Springs ground water to the Southern Nevada Water Authority, which is desperately seeking more water to supply the rapidly growing Las Vegas Valley.

The average yield from Coyote Springs is 18,000 acre feet a year.

The source of this water -- a well 60 miles due north of Las Vegas drilled 20 years ago for the MX missile project -- is not subject to the current protests.

State Engineer Michael Turnipseed, who is taking the protests into consideration, has yet to decide whether to grant Aerojet's latest ground water request.

Nevada Power filed a protest to protect its right to ground water for operating the Harry Allen Power Plant, which has not been built, but Turnipseed said the utility filed its objections too late.

The National Park Service objected to the large ground water request because it says withdrawing that much water each year from a desert basin could threaten the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, documents filed with the state said. Park Service studies indicate Coyote Springs drains into the Colorado River.

Threatened, endangered and unique plants and animals could be harmed by the withdrawal, the Park Service said, including Mojave Desert tortoises and desert bighorn sheep. The Las Vegas leopard frog, extinct in the Las Vegas Valley, has been found in Rogers, Corral and Blue Point springs fed by Coyote Springs.

"We think that the ground water in Coyote Springs is fully appropriated and no more can be withdrawn," Park Service biologist Bill Burke said Wednesday. "There are a lot of things that don't add up."

In its protest, the Park Service questioned why Aerojet wants more water, when its original share was never used.

Southern Nevada has been seeking water sources in addition to the Colorado River for years. Before the water authority was formed in 1992, the Las Vegas Valley Water District staked its claim to hundreds of ground water basins in rural Nevada, a water grab protested so vigorously by the outlying counties that the district backed off.

Some wonder if the Aerojet water request is a step back into claiming rural water for the Las Vegas Valley.

Aerojet came to Coyote Springs after Congress approved a land swap of Florida Everglades for the Nevada site to test solid fuel rocket motors. But Congress slashed military contracts after the 1988 land swap, so the test facility was never built.

Southern Nevada Water Authority General Manager Pat Mulroy said the water sale is a good deal for Las Vegas, noting the $3,000 per acre-foot price tag was cheap. Some areas in Southern California and Arizona are paying up to $15,000 per acre foot. Reno pays $5,500 an acre foot for ground water, while SNWA only pays $3,000 per acre foot.

If the water authority can draw the Coyote Springs water down the Muddy River, it would be ideal, Mulroy said. Otherwise it will cost another $25 million to build a pipeline to the Las Vegas Valley.

"There's no risk, no harm," Mulroy said. "We have nine years (under the Coyote Springs contract) to work on the politics of the Colorado River."

Mulroy referred to the Law of the River, which has regulated the Colorado River's supply for almost 100 years. By law the water authority cannot use the Muddy River as a natural pipeline to Las Vegas. Once ground water or water outside the Colorado enters the river, it becomes shared property with all seven western states.

Robert Johnson, Bureau of Reclamation regional manager, said he was cautious and pessimistic about Nevada changing the Law of the River.

"It's problematic," Johnson said. "Other states are likely to have concerns."

The water authority lost its bid to bring the Virgin River into Lake Mead in 1995. At the time, the Bureau of Reclamation took a hard line opposing the water authority's claim, Johnson said.

If Southern Nevada were allowed to tap into water such as Coyote Springs, the amount would count against the state's annual share of the 300,000 acre feet from the Colorado River, Johnson said.

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