MV Water District Raises Lease Rates On Irrigation Shares

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

The Moapa Valley Water District Board of Directors voted to increase lease rates by nearly 10 percent for Muddy Valley Irrigation Company (MVIC) Shares held by the district. The action came during a meeting held on Thursday, March 9.

The decision increased the lease cost on each district-owned MVIC share by an additional $40, bringing annual lease rates on the shares from around $380 per year to roughly $420 per year. The increase will be effective at the beginning of the next MVIC water year.

MVWD General Manager Joe Davis explained that the reason an increase to the lease rates was needed is due to a similar increase in the annual assessment from MVIC. Last year, MVIC increased its assessment by $31. This also included an escalator of 3 percent per year over the next three years, Davis explained.

“Last year, we just absorbed that $31,” Davis said. “So with 70 irrigation shares that we own under lease, we basically had a shortfall of $2,100. Staff is just recommending that we increase the rate by the $31 so that we balance that out.”

The 70 irrigation shares have been acquired by the district over the years as a part of the MVWD water portfolio. The district is not currently using the water because it would require expensive treatment facilities to bring it up to culinary water standards. But the water has been banked for use at some point in the future.

In the meantime, the district put in place this lease program whereby ratepayers can lease the shares from the district on a first-com-first-serve basis. All 70 of the district’s shares are currently under lease and there is a significant waiting list of candidates seeking to lease any shares that come available.

“This program was initially created to try and keep the valley green,” Davis told the board. ”So when you come in and see green fields and larger yards that are out there that are green, that is what we are promoting. So I think the program is still warranted for us to do.”

MVWD Board member Lindsey Dalley asked if there needed to be some kind of mechanism to step up the cost of the leases in order to keep up with the assessments for situations where lease terms went out five years.

Davis responded that there were no longer any of the leases going out five years. All of them are now on a year-by-year agreement he said.

“The way the water world is today I would not want to lock ourselves into something for five years,” Davis said.”I know that it doesn’t seem like that long, but it could be an eternity if we needed the water.”

Board member Ryan Wheeler proposed that, since the district had covered the assessment increase for the first year, perhaps an amount over $31 should be charged in order to recover the lost $2,100 over time.

“I mean it is by far the cheapest water that anyone can get,” Wheeler said. “And we have people in line waiting to lease water. There isn’t really any reason why the district should lose money on it.”

In the end, Dalley made a motion to increase the lease rate by $40. The vote to accept the motion was unanimous.