Vol. 6, No. 2
.jpg)
November 15, 2008
Nevada's Online State News Journal-- Serving Informed Nevadans Since 2003
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| . | |||||||
 |
Find Out
More About Our Wonderful State. |
COPYWRITING
|
|
Water Is 21st
Century Gold
Water Will Determine
Nevada’s Growth Direction
by Johnny Gunn
A planning change in Washoe County could move through other counties in the state, those that are planning to import water for continued growth, and those that wish to protect their water, either for current use, or for future growth. Water in the west today is the gold and silver of the 19th Century, and as the old saying goes, he who has the gold makes the rules. At this time in Nevada, the Vidler Water Company of Carson City has the gold.
The Washoe County Commission placed a question on the ballot, one that is not fully binding, only informative, asking whether future planning must be coupled to existing and sustainable water resources. Voters in the northern county supported the concept overwhelmingly. While the measure is binding to a degree, if the Regional Planning Governing Board doesn’t accept the initiative, then further elective options and of course legal options will come into play.
While the human body can suffer through long periods with little or no food, it cannot last without water, and communities cannot grow unless water can be provided for those moving into an area. Because of the nature of Nevada’s laws concerning water rights and the distribution of water, the Vidler Water Company has been able to secure huge amounts of water rights in the state. Vidler reportedly holds more water rights in Nevada than any other company, individual, or government agency. The law is such that Vidler cannot deliver or distribute that water to residential or business properties. Water for consumption and other use must come from a community water source, most of which in Nevada are quasi governmental in nature.
Such governmental agencies as Truckee Meadows Water Authority (TMWA) and Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) contract through companies like Vidler to make water available. TMWA has contracted for a pipeline and water from north eastern California to be delivered to Reno’s north valleys area. SNWA has contracted for water rights in White Pine County to be piped to Clark County. Both governmental agencies are getting or have purchased most of their imported water from Vidler Water Company.
There has been considerable backlash from areas where the water is exported, but little controversy from areas where the water ends up. Southern Nevada has virtually no water of its own, and without multi state compacts and imported water, Las Vegas would still be a dusty little cross roads. The building of Hoover Dam and creation of Lake Mead, and up river, Lake Powell, allowed for southern Nevada to grow. The amount of water allocated by way of the Colorado River Commission and Compact for Clark County is at its maximum usage now and for Las Vegas to continue its growth, new sources of water must be found.
Las Vegas and surrounding valley areas draw about 300,000 acre feet of water from Lake Mead, and SNWA wants to import another 300,000 or so acre feet of water from White Pine and Lincoln Counties in order to maintain what was a very large amount of growth in the area. No one doubts that the current economic crisis that faces this state and the nation will end, but many question whether growth rates in the south of the state will return or be as large as before the sub prime mortgage fiasco. SNWA has not slowed in its attempts to get proper permits for the almost 300 mile pipeline, nor has it slowed in acquiring more water resources to fill that pipeline. Cost estimates have run anywhere from $1.5 to $3.5 billion, and many believe those estimates are more than just conservative.
It is growth that many believe is virtually uncontrolled in northern Nevada that led to the ballot question. The City of Reno, extending its borders in all available directions has alarmed many in the northern county, and planning agencies have been accused of not listening to public comments at planning sessions. The term hop scotching has been raised several times, dealing with Cold Springs, a community 20 miles north of downtown Reno, but now in the city because of a slight technicality in the law. To be brought into the city, an area’s border must be contiguous with Reno’s border.
Legal beagles have determined that if as little as an inch or two is contiguous, then the area can be part of the city. In the case of Cold Springs, at least one map showed where the two areas nudged each other. In the case of the Winnemucca Ranch proposed settlement, there is no contiguous border, and Reno has not forced the issue. The Winnemucca Ranch properties will probably be developed as stand alone communities, if all the planning agencies agree.
Two major problems exist with these large developments, whether in Clark County, Washoe County, or any other county in the state. Traffic patterns may be plotted, but rarely end up as planners initially see them, and there simply isn’t any water available currently past what has already been put into plans. The Cold Springs area is served by U.S. Highway 395, but in that area, it is not capable of handling the number of new vehicles from the developments. The Winnemucca Ranch is served by a dirt road leading into the Pyramid Lake Highway, a two lane asphalt road.
In the past, most developments are built and then, ten to 20 years later, the highways catch up, usually after several people have been killed. Transportation problems can become severe, dangerous, and woefully inefficient, but the primary problem is still water. Nevada is a desert, and most of the agriculture in the state is based on that concept, that water supplies are limited, so what is grown must be compatible with that idea in mind.
Developers in Nevada have not accepted that concept, it appears, and growth has been determined by the availability of land, not the availability of water. Nevada’s political leaders will have to step up to the plate soon if growth is based on land availability only. The importation of water rarely works well, and all one needs do is drive through the Owens Valley of eastern California to have that reality brought home. The Washoe County ballot proposal will probably be seen in other counties in Nevada.
A study is under way at this time, conducted by the Desert Research Institute, the University of Nevada Reno and Las Vegas, and Nevada College, funded in part by the National Science Foundation, to determine what long term affect a warming climate would have on Nevada’s limited water sources. Other studies have predicted dire effects for agriculture if warming continues at its present rate, but this study deals specifically with water. The concept of water management is not fully addressed in the desert areas of the west, and there is very little state wide management in Nevada at this time.
•••