By the Moapa Valley Water District Board of Directors
Once again the old western adage, “Water’s for fighting and whiskey’s for drinking,” proves true. Our community, represented by the public utility Moapa Valley Water District (MVWD), stands at the center of a new “bar fight” over water. The State formed a new hydrological working group to settle water issues surrounding our Warm Springs water basin. At the last meeting, the State Water Engineer kicked the proverbial bull in the behind which forced everyone into their legal corners preparing for the water brawl.
In short, his draft ruling eliminates water “beneficial use” as one of the determining criteria for water right priorities, and only allows application dates to determine who has water-right priority. Essentially Nevada water law has two main parts; “First in time first in right” after which one must demonstrate “beneficial use” to receive “certification” to continue to hold that water right. This draft ruling turns Nevada water law upside down. It nullifies 33% of our certificated water out of our Arrow Canyon well and, in combination with other rulings, will create a massive speculator’s market among outside water interests effectively pricing MVWD out of purchasing additionally community water.
Since its inception, MVWD proactively budgeted and worked within the statutory framework with other large water users to protect and acquire more community water by leaving a portion of our water in the river to protect the Moapa Dace. In return we gained priority pumping rights if the Warm Spring water levels were to ever drop below certain trigger levels. Water levels have never reached any of these trigger levels, but never the less, the State’s draft ruling nullifies or ignores our community’s sacrifice and strips us of our certificated water priority.
Why the rush to judgement? The MVWD Board, made up of community members you elected, puzzle over this. If the State Water Engineer no longer values proving beneficial use which leads to water rights “certification” and will only look at the water rights application date to establish water rights priority, this forces our community to open the pandora’s box of first water claim.
Nevada water law evolved with the idea that those who first divert water and put it to beneficial use have the superior right and may take their water before the junior water rights. We recognize and don’t dispute the Muddy Valley Irrigation Company’s current irrigation water certification date, but a little known key community fact is that prior to establishing the current MVWD culinary water system, our community used Warm Springs irrigation ditch water as their culinary water source.
The founding of St. Thomas in 1865 easily establishes our first community use of Warm Springs water. This was our single water source as there are no other streams and no one used wells because ground water is undrinkable. That set our community water-use pattern for both culinary and irrigation from the same Warm Springs source.
An abbreviated history begins in St. Thomas where irrigation water was diverted and filtered through sand into below ground tanks called cisterns or later clarified in community settling ponds. The first of two formal culinary systems was formed in Overton in 1954 and the next one a couple of years later.
Both continued the pattern of clarifying irrigation water for community use until 1960 when they constructed a pipeline directly into Warm Springs that bypassed the Muddy River and irrigation ditches to supply drinkable water directly into the community. In 1983 they merged into the current MVWD.
Our community use of Warm Springs water preempts Nevada surface water code of 1905 and the statutory provisions relating to artesian groundwater sources developed in 1913 and the percolating groundwater code in 1939. Pre-code water rights are formally called “vested water rights” and can be claimed at anytime. Many Native American tribes in surrounding states have successfully claimed and litigated vested water rights, and numerous Nevada ranchers own vested water rights for their ranches.
By State Statute, the elected MVWD Board represents our community’s culinary water interests. Our community has always used Warm Springs water for culinary use which can be traced back to 1865.
Because of the State’s current arbitrary water judgement, speculators and outside water interests could savage our traditional water sources. We have no other practical or affordable sources available at this time considering current Federal Land restrictions.
The State Water Engineer is not the enemy, but balances many competing interests. He has graciously insisted this meeting be held in Overton. The MVWD Board invites your community interest through speaking and attendance about this recently released draft order at the public meeting on October 24, at 9:00AM in the Overton Community Center. For more information you may contact the MVWD office or a MVWD board member.
The MVWD Board of Directors includes Chairman Ken Staton, Jon Blackwell, Lindsey Dalley, Randy Tobler and Ryan Wheeler.
