Wednesday, May 26, 1999 | 9:37 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- Well owners in Southern Nevada will be eligible for state help under two bills approved Tuesday by the Assembly.
The House accepted Senate amendments on Assembly Bill 237 and Assembly Bill 347 and sent the bills to Gov. Kenny Guinn.
AB237 permits state funds to help pay for a hookup to a municipal water system if a homeowner's well fails. The property must be within 180 feet of a municipal line.
Julie Wilcox of the Southern Nevada Water Authority said there are about 200 homes that would qualify right now. The average cost of a hookup is about $15,000, she said, plus another $5,000 for capping the well.
An estimated 5,500 domestic wells are located in the Las Vegas Basin.
The bill would also help small water companies improve their systems to meet health standards. State water planner Naomi Duerr said the bill allocates $10 million more in bonds to add to the $3.8 million left in the fund. She said the state Board of Financing Water Projects will have to set new criteria for handling any application from a well owner.
Traditionally the state requires the local government to provide matching funds of anywhere from 15 percent to 50 percent of the state grant. Standards would be set up for a matching share from the well owner.
The bill also allows water companies to apply for grants to install water conservation projects. Wilcox said that could help some of the smaller communities in Clark County.
This fund was originally set up with $25 million in 1989. Another $15 million was added later. It is repaid from proceeds of the property tax collected by the state, Duerr said.
She called the bill permitting grants for conservation programs "forward looking." Nevada is the fastest-growing state in the nation and is also its driest, Duerr said.
AB347 permits the water authority to enter into an agreement with a well owner to install pipes to connect to the municipal system and to cap the well. It gives the water authority the power to recharge the underground water table which has been dropping in recent years.
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