Strategies and Objectives

DIVISION OF WATER RESOURCES

Tracy Taylor, Administrator/State Engineer

PURPOSE: The Water Resources Division protects the health and safety of Nevada citizens through the appropriation and adjudication of public water. Other responsibilities include the adjudication of claims of vested water rights; distribution of water in accordance with court decrees; review of water availability for new subdivisions and condominiums; review of the construction and operation of dams; appropriation of geothermal resources; licensing of well drillers and water right surveyors; review of flood control projects; maintenance of water resource data and records; provides technical assistance to government boards, offices and agencies; and maintains WaterPlanning activities such as flood planning, emergency preparation and response.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE: The State Engineer is responsible for the statewide administration of the Division of Water Resources. The Division consists of 7 sections: Engineering, Water Rights, Titles Section, Hearings, Surface Water and Adjudications, WaterPlanning and Floodplain Management and Information Technology as well as a branch office in Las Vegas and one in Elko. The Division also regulates the licensing of well drillers and water right surveyors.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY:	Title 48
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES:	73.5 FTE/2004
TELEPHONE:	Carson City 775-684-2800	Las Vegas 702-486-2770
	Elko 775-723-1102	Winnemucca 775-623-6562
WEB SITE ADDRESS:	http://water.nv.gov

GOAL OR OBJECTIVE: To conserve protect, manage and enhance the State’s water resources for Nevada’s citizens through the appropriation and reallocation of the public waters.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: The Division has been challenged to meet growing demands by conversion of water rights from existing uses to new uses. The Division continues to be active in administering the AB380 program, which has reduced litigation concerning changes in the use of the Truckee River. Significant staff time has been allocated in negotiating the Truckee River Operating Agreement (TROA) that will resolve disputes among Truckee River users. In addition, significant staff time has been allocated to the Walker Lake discussions regarding getting more water to Walker Lake.

The Division held additional hearings regarding the water right applications for the Yucca Mountain Repository and subsequently denied the applications on the grounds that the use of the water would threaten to prove detrimental to the public interest.

The Division also held hearings for the first time on applications filed by Las Vegas Valley Water District and the Southern Nevada Water Authority to appropriate water outside of Clark County.

During this period of time, 97 hearings were conducted and 365 rulings were issued dealing with 543 applications, permits and well drilling issues. There was a marked increase in applications requesting substantial quantities of water for the building of more power plants. There continues to be many requests to appropriate very substantial quantities of water from the carbonate-rock aquifer system which has resulted in a significant increase in the amount of days spent holding hearings on these matters.

Although the Division issued 1,751 permits, a decrease of 4.8% over the previous biennium, the Division took action on 2,489 applications, an increase of 4.2% from the previous biennium. Of the applications received, 75% of the 2,650 were changes of existing rights, which cause considerably more staff-hours to process, and the significant amounts of time it takes to conduct hearings on contested applications. The Division also completed 5,295 title transfers of water rights, which required the review of 24,474 individual deeds.

The Division continues to update and add to its website on the Internet which allows the general public to access and download all of its forms and allows the public access of many databases including well logs, titles, water right surveyors, well drillers and dams. It is of note that information on more than 84,000 well logs can be obtained from the well log database and consequently, is the number one accessed page on our website. During this time period 17,414 well logs were added to the database.

The Division continues to update and add to its water right database. There are over 81,000 records containing over 80 fields for each record on the database.

The Division continues to map the Orr Ditch Decree on the Truckee River. Twenty-four (24) maps were produced and signed-off by the State Engineer and Federal Water Master. To date, over 126 maps have been drawn and approved leaving 3 maps to complete the initial part of this mapping project. Since the mapping portion of this project is nearly complete, staff is focusing on the backlog of ownership assignments on the Truckee River.

The Division is finalizing the Preliminary Order of Determination for the Carson Valley Adjudication and is nearly ready for distribution to claimants. The East Fork of the Owyhee River, Bruneau and Jarbidge adjudications are on-going. Hydrographic surveys and cultural evaluations for the Ruby Valley and Clover Valley Adjudications have been initiated. Field work has been completed on the Little Owyhee, and South Fork of the Owyhee River.

GOAL OR OBJECTIVE: To ensure that dams in the State will be built safe and remain safe for the design life of the dam.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: The Division protected the safety of Nevada citizens by inspecting all high hazard dams, and inspecting significant and low hazard dams pursuant to their scheduled frequency (once every 3 years and 5 years, respectively). Regulations were promulgated to support and better explain the intent of the existing statutes and office policies.

GOAL OR OBJECTIVE: To enforce well drilling regulations.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: The Division continued to license well drillers across the state and continued to enforce the well drilling regulations on the well drillers through well site investigations during drilling. Disciplinary hearings were held for those well drillers in violation of the regulations.

KEY LONG TERM GOALS AND OBJECTIVES:

1. The Division will continue to manage the State’s water resources through monitoring existing uses, reallocating water to new uses and ensuring that Nevada’s growth can be based on a sustainable yield. This includes monitoring and studying the effects of pumping the carbonate aquifer on existing rights. The Division will also reduce the backlog of appropriation applications and change applications while expeditiously acting on applications as they are received.
Through the adjudication process set out in NRS 533, the Division will continue to attempt to quantify and determine water rights put to beneficial use prior to enactment of various statutes ("vested rights"), thereby ensuring that those water rights are recognized.
The Division will continue to protect the safety and health of Nevada citizens through the applicable statutes and regulations for dam safety, inspections and strict enforcement of channel clearance and flood control.
The Division will work to carry out the higher priority recommendations outlined in the State Water Plan and review the balance of the recommendations to see how they can best be implemented/accomplished in a timely manner. The Division will continue to provide flood plain management assistance to the communities throughout Nevada and the State itself.
The Division will continue to protect the health and safety of Nevada’s citizens through the implementation of its well drilling laws, rules and regulations to ensure that the water resources of the State will be available for future generations.
The Division will reduce the backlog of requests for changes of ownership of existing water rights filed before October 1995 and continue to process newly filed reports of conveyances in a timely manner.
The Division will continue to maintain, update and improve the water rights database with the eventual goal being internet access to the general public.

SIGNIFICANT LEGISLATIVE OR EXECUTIVE ACTIONS AFFECTING THE AGENCY:

During the 2003 legislative session,

A bill was passed to add an additional criteria that the State Engineer may consider when considering whether or not to approve an extension of time request. That criteria gave the State Engineer the ability to approve an extension if water could not be put to beneficial use based on a prolonged period of less than average precipitation;
An amendment to the stockwater bill was made which declared that in order to appropriate water for stock, the applicant must own, lease or have interest in the livestock to be placed on the land.

PUBLICATIONS:

Warm Springs Valley Groundwater Pumpage Inventory
Carson Valley Groundwater Pumpage Inventory
Las Vegas Valley Water Usage Reports
Recharge Storage Accounts, Las Vegas Valley Water Basin
Mason Valley Groundwater Pumpage Inventory
Smith Valley Groundwater Pumpage Inventory