LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Why should some mining companies and geothermal energy projects get a pass on rules surrounding groundwater extraction? That’s the basic question behind a bill in the Nevada Legislature, one of several proposed laws surrounding water issues this session.
Assembly Bill 109 (AB109), dubbed the “water application fairness bill,” challenges a loophole that allows some companies to escape regulatory reviews that come in the permitting process. “Consumptive use” of water gets a fresh look in AB109. The bill doesn’t go along with the thinking that nothing has really changed if the water is returned to where it was removed.
“Yes, you can return water to the source after it’s pumped. But that pumping throws off aquifers. And it unstabilizes and unbalances aquifers. And so even if you return ever drop, you can still have major impacts on an aquifer and water can go in different directions and go to different places,” according to Kyle Roerink, executive director of the conservation-minded Great Basin Water Network.
“And so then you’re harming springs, which are surface expressions of groundwater and you’re harming the overall stability when you pump large quantities, even if it’s returned,” Roerink said.
He said AB109 fixes that, simply by requiring the permit and ensuring no one is exempt.
Democratic Assem. Selena La Rue Hatch is sponsoring AB109.
“During my work with the Interim Natural Resources committee it came to my attention that there was a loophole in Nevada law that may need closing. As we all know, as the driest state in the nation, our water is precious and limited. Therefore, under our current laws, all water used in the state must be put to beneficial use,” La Rue Hatch said Friday.
“To ensure this, all water uses must be reviewed by the State Engineer to ensure water is available, existing water rights will not be harmed, and the water will indeed be put to beneficial use while protecting the public interest. Unfortunately, there are some select industries who are not subject to this review and are able to use the waters of Nevada without this critical oversight,” she said.
“My intention with this bill is to ensure that all industries go through this same process and that our water is protected. This bill brings clarity to a confusing section of statute and ensures parity for all water users while protecting the water that we all hold so dear,” La Rue Hatch said.
Farmers and companies involved in hard-rock mining have to apply for groundwater permits, and this bill would remove exceptions for geothermal projects and new mining methods — including some lithium mining techniques.
Groundwater is serious business in Nevada. A number of endemic species live in springs that could dry up with overpumping, and 10% of the Las Vegas valley’s water comes from wells, even if all you ever hear about is the 90% that comes from Lake Mead.
A fiscal note for the bill indicates there are about 450 active geothermal projects across the state.
Albemarle, the company that operates the only active lithium mine in the U.S. at Silver Peak, west of Tonopah, states on its website: “We carefully measure water withdrawals and continuously monitor groundwater systems, both freshwater and brine, to confirm there are no adverse impacts to the nearby water resources.”
Roerink calls it “the most important water bill that we can pass this session” and points out that it protects wildlife, property rights, due process, the public interest, and even mining companies by ensuring their competition has to follow the same law.
More water bills this year
Another piece of legislation is the first proposal of its kind in Nevada.
WATER CONSERVATION PLANS: AB134 would create a beneficial use that is a “non-use” — a strictly conservational use, Roerink said. The bill goes beyond protecting springs for wildlife, and it’s about more than fallowing fields to save water temporarily. He’s concerned about the risks if water “profiteering” takes hold in Nevada.
“We’re an organization that’s really cautious about true-blue, dyed-in-the-wool Nevadans who make a living off their water. We want to make sure that we’re protecting those interests as well as being conscious that there’s going to be less and less water to go around in the years to come,” Roerink said.
He sees AB134 as a way to limit conflict over water in communities. The Great Basin Water Network sets out these concepts for what the bill would do:
- Protect the conserved or saved portion of their right from use-it-or-lose-it provisions in the law for entities that make demonstrable investments in water conservation practices.
- Prohibits entities from “conserving” the entire amount of a permitted, certificated, or vested water right. This prevents abuse from speculators.
- Offers alternatives to buy-and-dry proposals that take water and people off the land, invite invasive weeds, and upend rural community dynamics.
- Makes provisions voluntary and limited for up to 10 years. Renewals would be allowed after the terms of the Water Conservation Plan expire.
- After a Water Conservation Plan expires, a water user could resume putting that water to use again for non-conservation purposes.
- The proposal respects the principle of “enlargement,” which means another water user couldn’t use the “conserved” or “saved” water that’s flowing downstream.
EXPANDING EXISTING WATER CONSERVATION INITIATIVES: Based on an existing program from 2007, AB9 could provide a way to expand conservation programs while putting safeguards in place to prevent speculative uses of water rights. Roerink sees it as a “halfway” step that might be more acceptable to lawmakers. The bill is still in its formative stages, but it’s expected to get a bill hearing next week.
WATER OMNIBUS AND CLEANUP: AB104 renews the effort to retire water rights, buying back those rights from individual users across the state. That was happening with the use of COVID money, Roerink said, but it was completely through administrative channels with no framework under state law. This bill would set up that framework, but it does not request any funding for buybacks. This bill is also scheduled for a hearing next week.
