Proposed Water Law Changes in 2017

The upcoming 2017 Nevada Legislative Session includes proposed water law changes that could affect water rights users across the state. The 79th legislative session, which starts on February 6, 2017 and ends on June 5, 2017, contains a number of proposed water law changes. It appears there will be four senate bills submitted by the Nevada State Engineer and Nevada Division of Water Resources during the session, as well as five bills from the Nevada Legislative Committee to Study water, and five bills from individual legislators and committees.

The four senate bills to be introduced to the 2017 legislative session that include potential changes to water law in Nevada are as follows: Senate Bill 47 (SB47) proposes various changes to the appropriation of water; Senate Bill 51 (SB51) proposes various changes to the adjudication of vested water rights; and Senate Bills 73 and 74 (SB73 and SB74) propose the revision of various provisions relating to water rights and use in the State of Nevada. Any pre-filed bills, which include the senate bills listed above, are available for public viewing on the Nevada Legislature’s website at https://www.leg.state.nv.us/Session/79th2017/Reports/Prefiled.cfm. By clicking on the link for the proposed bill, users can view the full bill text as introduced to the Senate as well as the bill’s history of hearings or votes as the session moves along. These bills are also referred to the Senate Natural Resources Committee for review.

While proposed bills could bring changes to water law at a statewide level in Nevada, county officials and other local groups are also working to develop local water management plans. The Nevada Farm Bureau, for example, has a collected a group of interested volunteers to participate in a Water Discussion group for water management plans specific to volunteers’ areas around the state. The Bureau also continues to encourage interested parties to contact them for more information regarding such discussion. According to the Pahrump Valley Times, officials in Nye County have conducted studies on a number of wells in the Pahrump Valley that have the potential to go dry. Further, studies are ongoing in the Humboldt River Basin and being conducted by USGS and DRI. It appears scientists are looking to understand the groundwater system better.

Studies such as those being conducted in Nye County will likely continue across the state in preparation for recommendations on approval or denial of the proposed water law changes in Nevada’s 79th Legislative Session in 2017. Counties and hydrographic basins may have different needs based on appropriation and water sources available. The interested public can keep current with session information and the drafting and approval of bills as the session persists at the legislature’s website: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/Session/. County and city papers also continue to publish information regarding more local sessions.