Senate Bill 150 which is sponsored by Senator Goicoechea and cosponsored by Senators Settelmeyer, Hardy and Hansen was introduced on February 12th. Assemblyman Ellison is a joint sponsor in the Assembly. The bill requires, with limited exception, the governing body of a county or municipality to develop and maintain a water resource plan to include:
- The identification of all known sources of surface water, groundwater and effluent that are physically and legally available for use in the community
- An analysis of the existing demand for water in the community
- Expected demand for water in the community caused by projected growth
- An analysis of whether the existing sources of water are of sufficient quality and quantity to satisfy the existing and expected demands, and if it is not sufficient, a plan for obtaining additional water of sufficient quality and quantity
Counties and cities would have ten years to develop their water resource plan and cities would not have to develop a plan if the county in which the city is located has adopted a water resource plan that includes the required information about the city.
The bill also allows Nevada’s Program to provide grants for water conservation and capital improvements to certain water systems to provide grants of money to a county or city to develop and maintain a water resource plan.
The Central Nevada Regional Water Authority has long been a proponent of requiring local government land-use plans to be based on identified sustainable water resources.
The Central Nevada Regional Water Authority provided testimony and a written recommendation to the 2017-2018 Interim Legislative Committee on Public Lands regarding the need for local government land use plans to be based upon identified water resources.
The Committee voted to include a position statement in its final Report
calling for local government land-use plans to be based on identified sustainable water resources and for coordination between local governments and the Office of the State Engineer to assure there is an accurate accounting of water needed for all future land developments.