Compromise reached on water bill

CARSON CITY -- Negotiators have reached an agreement on a pending water bill that could end a bitter court fight over Truckee River water rights.

Participants cheered as details were resolved late Thursday, after several hours of negotiations involving representatives of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, Churchill County, Fallon, state and federal lawmakers and others.

"It's unbelievable," said Assemblywoman Marcia de Braga, D-Fallon, whose Assembly Bill 380 was a key element in getting the negotiations started. "I don't think it gets any better than this."

Under the tentative proposal, funding from various sources -- mainly federal -- would enable the Paiutes to buy up water rights in the Fallon area, a farm town 60 miles east of Reno.

The Indians would benefit because Truckee water not diverted by a canal to Fallon would eventually flow into their Pyramid Lake, 30 miles north of Reno.

De Braga's bill had been opposed by tribal officials who said it would mean another 60,000 acre-feet of water could be diverted from the Truckee to Fallon during dry years.

That in turn would void the historic federal Truckee River Negotiated Settlement, which gives Reno and Sparks the drought storage they need in Sierra Nevada reservoirs to continue growing.

Under the deal, De Braga's bill, which would change state law to help the Fallon farmers preserve some of their rights to Truckee water, could go through the Legislature this session.

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