Groundwater Management in Nevada: Challenges and Strategies

1. Groundwater Management in Nevada AWRA Summer Specialty Conference Reno, NV Jason King, P.E.State Engineer (Retired) June 19, 2019

2. Nevada Facts • Driest state in the nation averaging approximately 11” precipitation annually • 7th largest state geographically • Population is ~3.0 million • > 2 million live in Las Vegas Metropolitan Area (7 out of 10 Nevadans) • > 50 million visitors annually • 3rd most urbanized state in the nation (2010 census) • (>94% of population lives in population clusters of 50,000 people or more)

3. Tenets • Prior Appropriation State • First in time, first in right • Priority of a water right is the date the water right application was filed. Change applications retain base right’s priority. • Beneficial Use • The BASIS, the MEASURE and the LIMIT of the water right. • Use it or lose it: cancellations, forfeitures and abandonments. • All use of water requires a water right from the State Engineer’s Office except for domestic wells, rain barrels from a single family dwelling and wildlife guzzlers.

4. Nevada’s Water Law • State Engineer’s Office created in 1902 • Surface water law – Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) Chapter 533 (1905) • Groundwater law – NRS Chapter 534 (1913 & 1939) • 1000’s of State Engineer decisions and dozens of court rulings have molded water policy in Nevada • The water law and science have not always been harmonized

6. Groundwater Management in Nevada Nevada’s groundwater is divided into 256 hydrographic basins and sub-areas 6

7. Groundwater Management • As early as 1917, Nevada began working with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) on hydrologic studies of its groundwater basins. • By 1945, funding appropriations were granted by the state’s legislature for the USGS to take stream measurements and perform additional groundwater studies. This was the beginning of what is now called a statewide cooperative program with the USGS for groundwater and surface water studies in Nevada.

8. Groundwater Management in Nevada Amount of groundwater available in each basin based on the Perennial Yield Concept • The maximum amount of ground water that can be developed each year over the long term without depleting the ground water reservoir. • The perennial yield cannot be more than the natural recharge and is usually limited to the natural discharge. • By the late 1960’s, perennial yields were established for all 256 basins. • State Engineer’s goal is to not allow the consumptive use of groundwater rights and domestic wells to exceed the basin’s perennial yield.

9. Perennial Yield Values • Highest: 84,000 af – Spring Valley • Lowest: 10 af – Emigrant Valley-Papoose Lake Valley • Approximately 25% of basins have a PY < 1,000 af • Sum of PY’s = ~2 million acre-feet

10. the good Nevada’s water law first formed in the early 20th century • The Office of the State Engineer was created to be the “one-stop shop” for anyone who wants to appropriate water for a beneficial use in the state. • The 1939 Nevada Underground Water Act has been considered one of the most comprehensive groundwater laws in the West. • Groundwater basins were identified and defined statewide early on. • By partnering with the USGS, perennial yield estimates were established decades ago for each of the 256 groundwater basins, which provided Nevada a metric by which to appropriate water.

12. How’d we do? • Perennial yield estimates for all 256 groundwater basins. • The goal is to not allow the consumptive use of groundwater rights and domestic wells to exceed the basin’s perennial yield.

13. Ratio of Committed Water Resources to Perennial Yield by Basin 48 Basins 161 Basins 49 Basins 19 Basins 27 Basins 95 Basins

14. How Did the Basins get Over-Appropriated? • Most of the severely over appropriated basins were over appropriated prior to the Perennial Yield (PY) being established (keep in mind that 25% of PY’s are < 1000 acre-feet). • Popular thinking that not all rights would be put to their maximum beneficial use, so it was acceptable to over-appropriate. • In the case of Las Vegas Valley, purposely allowed to overdraft (revocables) with the hope that infrastructure would eventually be in-place to deliver Colorado River water and the over pumping would be curtailed.

15. How Did the Basins get Over-Appropriated? • Desert Land Entry Success Rate • Desert Land Entries were federal/state programs that gave away land if they could be farmed – it was a way to bring farmers to the west and make the “desert bloom” • Typical success rate was very low statewide therefore excessive amounts of water rights were issued. Several basins had very high success rates and therefore they were over-appropriated.

16. How to deal with severely over-appropriated groundwater basins? - Curtail by priority; or - Designate Critical Management Areas - Starts 10 year time clock to develop a Groundwater Management Plan (GMP) otherwise a priority call is mandatory; or • Voluntary stakeholder GMP’s • Only one basin, Diamond Valley has been designated a Critical Management Area – more to come! 16

17. Severely Over-Appropriated Basins - Need a more robust statutory framework to provide stakeholders the ability to create and adopt a groundwater management plan for approval by the State Engineer’s Office. • The framework needs to allow for maximum flexibility in terms of what tools can be used to bring a basin back to a sustainable level. • Need to settle whether the GMP is binding on ALL water users or just those that want to participate.

18. the bad Although Nevada had a comprehensive groundwater water law: • In many cases, estimates of perennial yield were established AFTER excessive groundwater rights were issued. • Data collection by the State Engineer (water levels, groundwater inventories) didn’t begin to paint the basin’s “health” picture until the 1970’s. • Irrigation project success rates were exceeded in many basins.

19. the ugly

20. Conjunctive ManagementGroundwater andSurface Water 20

21. Some History Ruling 5079, 2001

22. 2017 Legislation Nevada Revised Statutes 533.024(1)(e) The Legislature declares that: It is the policy of this State to manage conjunctively the appropriation, use and administration of all waters of this State, regardless of the source of the water.

23. The Problem • Nevada’s water law based on the prior appropriation doctrine. • Surface water used first, typically most senior priority. • Groundwater, generally, used after surface water fully appropriated, therefore junior to surface water rights. • In hydrologically connected river dominated systems, groundwater pumping either captures water that would ordinarily flow to the river OR pulls water from the river into the groundwater resource. • The magnitude and timing between groundwater pumping and river flow is not well understood in Nevada, nor is the amount of conflict that may result.

24. Current Effort • Groundwater and surface water managed as two distinct sources for over 100 years • Attempting to “right the ship” by harmonizing the science with the law when it comes to conjunctive management in river dominated systems

26. Humboldt River • Fully decreed • Priorities are 1860’s to early 1900’s • 285,000 acres irrigated under the decree, rights total ~700,000 af • Flows through 34 groundwater basins • Current groundwater appropriations of 716,000 af • 2017 pumpage ~300,000 af • All Decree rights senior to all groundwater rights • Groundwater pumping depletions of river flow supported by existing studies 26

27. Humboldt River • USGS and Desert Research Institute (DRI) building a capture model of the entire drainage • Best available science • Completion by the end of 2019 • Better define surface water – groundwater connectivity • Humboldt River Working Group (HRWG) created • Members represent agriculture, mining, municipal interest from upper, middle and lower Humboldt River • Goal is to adopt regulations to address mitigation (augmentation) using the capture model results 27

28. Pershing County Water Conservation District (PCWCD) PCWCDholds 140,000 af Decree rights in irrigation district at the Humboldt River terminus Received little to no water from 2013 to 2015 Argued that groundwater pumping is depleting Humboldt River and conflicting with their senior water rights PCWCD filed writ petition in District Court August 2015 Curtailment in overappropriated basins Eliminate cones of depression by groundwater pumping causing interference with flows of the Humboldt River Treat mine water rights as permanent; consider dewatering effects and pit lakes. 28

29. State Engineer’s Management Regulations as an Alternative to Curtailment • Maximize beneficial use of the limited water resource • Allow for some level of continued groundwater use • Provide mitigation to senior Decree rights for conflicts • Involve stakeholders throughout process 29

30. Humboldt River Basin Conjunctive Management Regulations Problems and issues: • For surface water flows to return to pre-groundwater pumping rates would require decades with no pumping • Population centers are close to river and would be significantly impacted by curtailment • Priority issues: GW vs. SW AND GW vs. GW • Domestic wells 30

31. Lower White River Flow System (LWRFS) • Two-year aquifer test showed that groundwater levels in 6+ groundwater basins responded as if they were one basin. • This is the only region in the state where there has been a State Engineer’s Order to jointly manage the 6+ basins as a single basin. • Muddy River runs through and adjacent to the basins. • Senior decreed surface water rights • Home to the Moapa dace, a threatened fish since 1967.

32. Lower White River Flow System • Need a conjunctive management plan for the region • Working with the regions stakeholders on how best to move forward in jointly managing the region. • Established a LWRFS Working Group • The State Engineer’s Order mandates that during this planning process: • Change applications to move groundwater throughout the region are being held in abeyance • Subdivision maps are being held in abeyance unless a sustainable water supply is identified to the satisfaction of the State Engineer • Existing groundwater right holders may cite the State Engineer’s Order as a valid reason as to why they are not using their water. There water rights won’t be cancelled or forfeited.

33. the ugly • For those river dominated systems, Nevada’s water law was NOT harmonized with the science • Groundwater and surface water are connected and impact each other • Trying to shift to this new paradigm will be difficult and litigious • Groundwater users have relied on Nevada’s water law and don’t want change • If this issue can’t be worked out in statute and regulations, it will be decided by the courts. This issue isn’t going away!

34. Questions? Questions?