Lyon Utilities Director Mike Workman got the go-ahead to provide up to 100 acre-feet of county-owned water in a lease program to small commercial developments whose projects are stymied by water protests languishing before the state engineer.
Lyon County commissioners Bob Milz and Don Tibbals praised the idea, which they said could spur economic development in a difficult economy.
"Over the last couple of years I have wanted to develop a program that would allow people that are interested in developing small commercial projects to use county-owned water for their projects in lieu of bringing water rights to the table," he said.
He added that the water rights protests and appeals by the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, among others, are dragging out for multiple years and he thinks a policy is needed to help small projects get off the ground.
He said he has not put together a draft policy, but had some ideas and wanted the OK of the commissioners to formulate a policy for the board to approve at a later date.
Some of his ideas include using water that has been credited to or is held by the county, with no transfer of ownership; limiting the project to small commercial developments; and limiting the amount leased to no more than 4 acre-feet per project or applicants.
He would charge a monthly fee per acre-foot leased, to be established by the commissioners, and gave $100 per month per acre-foot as an example.
To qualify, a project must be ready to go, and at any time the applicant may purchase water rights from a private party, terminating the county agreement, which is just designed to help with startups.
• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or call 881-7351.