The Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (NDCNR) announced that Adam Sullivan has been appointed to serve as Nevada’s 24^th State Engineer and Administrator of the Department’s Division of Water Resources (NDWR).  Click here to read more.

The 2022 NWRA Annual Conference will be held Monday, January 31 – Thursday, February 3, 2022 in Las Vegas. Click here for details.

The Division of Water Resources held public workshops on June 16th and 18th to solicit comments from interested persons on proposed new regulations. DWR will accept written comments on the proposed new regulations relating to administrative hearings before the State Engineer (LCB File No. R125-20) and on the proposed new regulations pursuant to Assembly Bill 62 of the 2019 Nevada Legislative Session, relating to applications for extensions of time to file a proof of construction of works and proof of beneficial use (LCB File No. R169-20) until July 16th. Comments can be submitted via email to: ndwr-regscomment@water.nv.gov. DWR will also hold another workshop on the proposed regulations relating to applications for extensions of time to file a proof of construction of works and proof of beneficial use on July 27th.

The Nevada Supreme Court has scheduled oral argument on the Diamond Valley Groundwater Management Plan (GMP) for June 2nd from 9:30 am to 10:30 am in Las Vegas. The oral argument can also be viewed live on utube.

The Diamond Valley GMP was developed in response to State Engineers Order #1264, which designated Diamond Valley as a Critical Management Area (CMA) in 2015. This designation requires the development of a GMP within 10 years in order to remove Diamond Valley from this designation. If the GMP is not approved within this 10-year timeframe, the State Engineer shall order that groundwater withdrawals be restricted to conform to priority rights. The goal of the GMP is to stabilize the groundwater table by annually reducing the amount of water that can be
pumped by each shareholder under the GMP.

State Engineer’s Order# 1302 approving the GMP was appealed to the District Court, which found that the Order was unlawful. The District Court’s finding was then appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court. Click here for case information (#81224) and docket entries.

The Division of Water Resources has announced that it will hold a public workshops on June 16th to solicit comments from interested persons on proposed new regulations new relating to administrative hearings before the State Engineer and on June 18th on proposed new regulations relating to applications for extensions of time to file a proof of construction of works and proof of beneficial use.

Click here for the proposed regulations relating to administrative hearings before the State Engineer and how to participate in the June 16th hearing. Click here for the proposed regulations relating to applications for extensions of time to file a proof of construction of works and proof of beneficial use and how to participate in the June 18th hearing.

AB354 and AB356 will be heard by the Assembly Natural Resources Committee on Monday April 5th beginning at 4:00pm.  AB354 authorizes the creation of water banks and AB356 creates a water conservation program for water rights that are used for irrigation.  CNRWA is concerned that these bills could result in harm member counties as they undermine prior appropriation and facilitate out-of-basin transfers favoring development in urban areas at the expense of agriculture.  The State Engineer is working to prepare amendments to both of the bills to acknowledge the discussions and concerns expressed by stakeholders. However, the amendments have not yet been made available.

Click here for information on how to provide public testimony during the hearing and/or written comments.