Assembly Bill 419, a bill proposed to streamline water right approvals, was recently presented to an Assembly committee.
The bill, sponsored by Assemblymembers Rich DeLong, Bert Gurr and Lisa Cole, would provide water rights applicants with the ability to request preliminary meetings with the State Engineer. The office would also be required to submit a report on pending applications to the Legislature every other year. Deadlines would be set regarding responses to applications and objections to engineering decisions.
The bill would involve nearly doubling the Division of Water Resources budget. Its 2023-24 fiscal year budget was $11M.
State Engineer Adam Sullivan claimed the bill would double projected timelines. Sullivan cited the pre-application conference, preliminary determination, objection period and additional hearing as reasons for the increased timeline.
Sullivan stated his office receives around 1,000 water rights applications annually. Furthermore, 10%-20% of decisions are protested. He said the bill would favor applicants with the legal resources to challenge decisions.
Supporters of AB 419 stated an increase in communications between the State Engineer and applicants would result in fewer submissions.
While parties were generally supportive of expediting the permitting process, many were opposed to the bill. One controversial aspect was requiring the State Engineer to engage with the Legislature. Others felt the bill would prioritize new water rights applications over existing water rights holders.
The Nature Conservancy, a national nonprofit environmental group, claimed more than half of Nevada-based hydrological basins are over-appropriated. This essentially means water users have the right to pump more water than the total amount that is available annually. Nevada has a total of 256 hydrological basins. (Source)