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Proposed draft regulations of legislative Council Bureau (LC File No. R125-20) relating to administrative hearings and other proceedings before the State Engineer are available on LCB’s website at:

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/Register/2020Register/R125-20P.pdf

The Division of Water Resources has not set a date for a public workshop on this proposed regulation, and the Division does not plan on setting any additional public workshops until after the conclusion of the (2021) legislative session.

After receiving letters objecting to the State Engineer’s decision to hold hearings virtually and not physically in the counties or basins proposed to be designated as required by NRS534.030(2) the State Engineer issued the following notice on August 8th.

NOTICE OF CANCELLED HEARINGS
Please be advised that the Hearings on Proposed Orders to
Designate Basins, previously scheduled for Wednesday, August
12, 2020, will be rescheduled for dates in October 2020:
• Pueblo Valley (001), Continental Lake Valley (002), and
Gridley Lake Valley (003) Hydrographic Basins
• Dry Valley (198), Rose Valley (199), Eagle Valley (200),
Spring Valley (201), Patterson Valley (202), and Clover
Valley (204) Hydrographic Basins
• Newark Valley Hydrographic Basin (154) and Long Valley
Hydrographic Basin (175)

Central Nevada Regional Water Authority’s letter urging the State Engineer to reconsider his decision to hold hearings virtually and not physically can be seen here.

By Daniel Rothberg, Nevada Independent, August 5th, 2020

The state’s largest gold mining company asked federal land managers to temporarily suspend permitting to expand the Long Canyon Mine, a proposal that the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation and environmental groups said would dry up wetlands and endanger wildlife habitat. Read the entire here.

State Engineer Tim Wilson on March 16, 2020 issued Interim Order #1308 to estabish reserved groundwater quantities for hydrographic basins with unappropriated groundwater, as required by the 2019 Legislature in Senate Bill 140. Click here to read the Order.

By Daniel Rothberg, The Nevada Independent, March 10th, 2020 – 3:12pm

Senior District Court Judge Robert Estes, presiding over the 7th Judicial District Court, ruled that the state’s water law does not support the project. The court order, filed on March 9, denied the water authority a portion of the rights for the project, which it said could result in “water mining.”

Click here to read the Nevada Independent Article.

Click here to read the Order.

The FUTURE Drought Resiliency Act is a new bill by Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) to develop more resilient water infrastructure, expand the use of modern water management tools and technologies, and assist disadvantaged areas in meeting their drinking water needs. The bill includes a section on Infrastructure Development, inluding desalination, and Improved Technology and Data.

Rep. Huffman released a discussion draft of the legislation. The legislation will be open for public comment from January 8, 2020 to February 7, 2020 and can viewed here: https://huffman.house.gov/future-drought-act