Lawmaker: Water fees needed to keep staffing at necessary levels

An Assembly panel on Tuesday debated measures to raise fees to ensure the state can properly oversee its water resources and to conduct research on water resources in arid Nevada before water is piped from one location to another.

Besides the fee plan, AB480, and the research measure, AB416, the Assembly Government Affairs Committee also is considering AB376 and AB377, dealing with water conservation and applications for water use.

While Gov. Jim Gibbons has said he's opposed to higher fees and taxes in most cases, Government Affairs Chairwoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick, D-North Las Vegas, said,

"It's about time that we stand up as leaders and start putting things out there."

Kirkpatrick said the state water engineer's office, facing staffing cuts under the governor's proposed budget, needs "the tools to do what they need to do" and the fee revenues generated by AB480 would help accomplish that.

The plan was endorsed by Assemblyman Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka, who also asked the panel to support his AB416, which would require the state engineer to conduct an inventory of a water basin before approving an application for a transfer of water from that location to another basin.

Water basin transfers are a key element of the Southern Nevada Water Authority's plans to bolster the water supply for Las Vegas. SNWA is working on an elaborate, costly pipeline project that would carry water from distant Nevada valleys to Las Vegas.

Andy Belanger of SNWA didn't oppose AB416, but said the bill shouldn't result in duplication of studies that already have been completed. He noted a major federal study of Snake Valley, on the Utah-Nevada border, already has been done.

A monthlong series of hearings starts Sept. 28 on a bid by SNWA, already authorized to pump more than 19 billion gallons of water a year from rural Nevada, to get rights to another 16 billion gallons from Snake Valley.

Committee members also reviewed AB377, by Assemblyman David Bobzien, D-Reno, which requires that any approval by the state engineer of a "beneficial use" water application include a finding that the proposed use can't adversely affect any surrounding surface or underground water sources.

Bobzien, who is revising the bill, said he believes the state engineer already makes such findings but he wants to ensure that future officials do the same. He was backed by conservationists as well as SNWA's Belanger.

Assemblyman Joe Hogan, D-Las Vegas, asked the committee to approve his AB376, which requires new reports from water providers on how much water they hope to conserve when changing their rates " but faced opposition from several providers who said the plan is cumbersome and at a minimum needs revisions.