April 11th was the deadline for Committee passage out of the first House where the measure was introduced. Water bills that met the April 11th deadline include; AB30, AB62, AB95, AB163, AB265, SB140, SB150, SB232, SB236 and SB250.
The Assembly Committee on Natural Resources, Agriculture and Mining (NRAM) passed AB30 with a significant amendment that eliminated problematic language while providing some clarity that the State Engineer can only approve 3M plans to “avoid” conflicts and not to “eliminate” conflicts. Numerous individuals and groups opposed AB30 at the initial hearing, however, the Central Nevada Regional Water Authority, Humboldt River Basin Water Authority, Eureka County, the Great Basin Water Network and Center for Biological Diversity testified neutral on the amended bill. NRAM also passed an amended AB62 which revises the time period for which the State Engineer may grant an extension for the completion of work for the diversion of water, and AB95 which provides that if the State Engineer orders a curtailment by priority rights in a groundwater basin he must allow a domestic well to continue to withdraw 0.5 acre-feet of water per year if the owner of the domestic well installs or has installed a water meter.
AB163 and AB265 also made it out of NRAM by the deadline. AB163 as amended revises requirements for water utilities to have water conservation plans and revises minimum standards for plumbing fixtures in new construction and expansions and renovations in certain structures. AB265 requires the Desert Research Institute to conduct a study concerning water treatment, including desalination and reverse osmosis treatment systems, and recycling. The Central Nevada Regional Water Authority supports desalination as a water resource. Sustainability needs to be the foundation of any strategy for water management and Nevada, the driest state in the nation, has a finite sustainable water supply for its communities and ecosystems. Significant advances in desalination have made it a potential water resource for the future.
On the Senate side, SB140, SB232, SB236 and SB250 were all passed out of the Committee on Natural Resources by the deadline. SB140 requires the State Engineer, in any basin in which there is water available for appropriation to reserve 10 percent of the total remaining water. The water reserved by the State Engineer may only be used on a temporary basis in an emergency, including if the basin is under a declaration of drought. CNRWA was among the many supporters of this bill.
SB232 authorizes the trustee or trustees to designate a beneficiary of a trust to vote in certain elections, sign certain petitions and run for certain offices of an irrigation district.
SB236 creates an exception from the requirement to file a change application where: both the original place of diversion and new place of diversion are located on the same property for which water has already been appropriated; and the new place of diversion is located not more than 300 feet from the original place of diversion.
SB 250 provides that any right to appropriate water that is dedicated to a county, city, public utility, water purveyor or other public entity in order to ensure a sufficient supply of water to one or more parcels and in connection with the approval of any parcel map or permit must remain so dedicated and must not be sold, leased or otherwise used for a purpose other than ensuring a sufficient water supply for the parcel or parcels, as applicable, until the modification or redevelopment of the parcel or parcels. An amendment provides that the dedication requirement must be the subject of an ordinance, published rule, or regulation adopted by the supplier of water and must be based on reliable data and demand estimating procedures, and except in the case of mergers or acquisitions of a utility water system or transactions by the water supplier in furtherance of developing or maintaining a sustainable water supply, the supplier of water is prohibited from conveying a water right previously dedicated for purposes of sale to a private person, private entity, or public entity.
Finally, the Senate Committee on Government Affairs passed SB150 which requires counties and cities to develop a water resource plan. Cities do not need to develop a plan if they are included in a county water resource plan. Nevada, the driest state in the nation, has a finite sustainable water supply for its communities and ecosystems, and therefore local government land use plans (master plans) should be based on identified sustainable water resources.
CNRWA has long advocated for local government land-use plans to be based on identified sustainable water resources.
A total of 247 bills failed to make it out of Committee by the April 11th deadline including two water bills; AB51 and SB499.
AB51 would have required the State Engineer to adopt regulations related to the conjunctive management of groundwater and surface water and authorized the State Engineer to levy certain special assessments related to conjunctive management while SB499 would have created the Advisory Board on Water Resources Planning and Drought Resiliency within the Division of Water Resources of the State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
A subcommittee of the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees voted to create and fund a new statewide water planning program within the Division of Water Resources to improve water conservation, drought response, long-term flood management and long-range planning. The final budget must still be approved by the Assembly and Senate.