Water appropriations for Dayton, Stagecoach subject of meeting

Lyon County residents will get a second chance to voice their concerns about new orders limiting water appropriations in Dayton Valley and Stagecoach.

A proposed order limiting water appropriations in the Dayton Valley hydrographic basin to 1,800 gallons per day will be discussed at a public meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Dayton Community Center, 170 Pike St.

An order denying new appropriations entirely in the Stagecoach sub-basin will also be discussed.

Tim Wilson, hearing officer for the State Engineer's Office, said the meeting is a continuation of a May 3 meeting, when the two orders were first proposed.

Wilson has said more water is committed in terms of water-rights permits and certificates than the U.S. Geological Survey estimates is actually there for the perennial yield.

He said there was a possibility of more water being drawn from Dayton Valley than is recharged into it, though that has not yet happened.

The order will limit the transfer of any irrigation water to non-agricultural use to consumptive duty, which Wilson defined as the amount of irrigated water consumed by agricultural products, as opposed to the amount that is recharged back into the ground.

In irrigation, he said, there is always water that returns to the ground, with the consumptive duty being that which is consumed by the plant.

Wilson said that when four acre-feet of water is transferred from agricultural use to non-agricultural use, the amount decreases to 21Ú2 acre-feet, since some of the water for non-agricultural uses is not recharged back into the ground.

Wilson said the basin has been managed this way for a long time, and the orders merely make it official. He added the orders will not apply to domestic wells nor affect customers of Lyon County Utilities.

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@ nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111, ext. 351.

If you go

WHAT: Nevada Division of Water Resources public hearing

WHEN: 6 p.m. Wednesday

WHERE: Dayton Community Center, 170 Pike St.

CALL: (775) 684-2800