Published Tuesday, May 16, 2017 | 11:30 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, May 17, 2017 | 10:01 a.m.
Facing strong opposition from rural interests, the Southern Nevada Water Authority is retreating somewhat on a bill to change Nevada’s water law.
The Senate Committee on Natural Resources heard about two hours of testimony Tuesday on a bill supported by the water authority. But ranchers, farmers, ecologists and wildlife officials see the bill as a way for the authority to advance its plan to pump millions of gallons of water from eastern Nevada to supply the growing population of Southern Nevada.
At the end of the session, the authority's Andy Belanger said more work needs to be done on the bill to remove some of the objections.
“We’re not there yet,” he told the committee, and more talks will continue, although the Legislature is set to close in June.
Belanger said the plan to pipe water from rural Nevada is still decades in the future. This bill, he said, is to clarify some of the terms regarding water rights and mitigation measures. He said the bill clarifies the authority of the state engineer who makes decisions on granting water rights. And he wants to eliminate conflicting decisions.
The Las Vegas Water Authority applied in 1989 to build a 300-mile pipeline from White Pine County through Lincoln County to Southern Nevada. The battle has been in the courts, and another administrative hearing is set for September.
Support for the bill came from the AFL-CIO, the Retail Association of Nevada, the Southern Nevada Home Builders, the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce, the city of Henderson, the Regional Transportation Authority of Southern Nevada and others.
Sen. Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka, said there has been progress in rewriting the bill but there were still “sticking points.” There is nothing in the bill about compensation for the people who may lose their water rights, he said.
More than 20 opponents, including White Pine, Elko, Churchill and Humboldt counties, complained it would weaken decades of Nevada water law.
Patrick Donnelly of the Center for Biological Diversity told the committee this bill was to advance the proposed water line from rural Nevada. Once these valleys are pumped it would take decades to recover and that would be too late.
Kyle Davis of the Nevada Conservation League said the bill would undermine Nevada water law. And he complained it would apply retroactively.
Spokespeople said it would harm wildlife and fishing and threaten the Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada.
The hearing was telecast via video to Elko and Las Vegas from Carson City.
The committee did not take any action on the measure.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the name of the spokesman for the Center for Biological Diversity. | (May 17, 2017)
