“The water of all sources of water supply within the boundaries of the State, whether above or beneath the surface of the ground, belongs to the public.” Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) 533.025
On June 3, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo signed into law Nevada Assembly Bill 104 (AB 104), which strengthens the authority of the Nevada Water Engineer to address groundwater over-appropriations.
The bipartisan-supported legislation provides current Nevada Water Engineer Adam Sullivan with additional regulatory power to address the issue.
There is nothing new about the demand-appropriation problem. On January 30, 2018, during a Nevada Water Law Summit, then-Nevada Water Engineer Jason King referred to over-appropriations. He said, “Most (Basins) was already over-appropriated before establishing the perennial yield.” He noted, “Popular thinking suggested that not all rights would be put to their maximum beneficial use, so it was acceptable to over‐appropriate.”
Then, on June 29, 2018, King told the Legislative Committee on Public Lands that: “The goal is not to allow the consumptive use of Groundwater rights and domestic wells; to exceed the basin’s perennial yield.”
However, in 2020, Tim Wilson (replaced by Sullivan), who replaced King, stated that the Nevada Water Law does not mandate calculating the perennial yield for water rights administration.
To illustrate the issue, consider Mesquite, Nevada, which has a groundwater perennial yield of 3,600 acre-feet annually from its Basin (222).
In 1990, Mesquite had a population of 1,960 and an annual groundwater use rate of 811 acre-feet per year. The population reached 24,232 in 2024, with an anticipated growth rate of 3.08%. In 2020, the groundwater use rate was 7,137 acre-feet annually, nearly twice (1.98) the perennial yield.
Nevertheless, on September 18, 2012, King informed the Virgin Valley Water District Board members —Karl Gustaveson, Ted Miller, Sandra Ramaker, Kenyon Leavitt, and Richard Bowler — that the Water Engineers had permitted [over permitted]12,000 acre-feet per year (AFY) for underground use by the Water District from Basin 222.
During the same meeting, Mike Moran from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Henderson, NV, suggested a water budget that would account for all surface and Groundwater for $972,544, with the cost split between the USGS and the water district, starting in 2014 over five years. The effort never materialized.
Then, on Tuesday, September 28, 2021, Micheline Fairbank, the former Deputy Director of Nevada’s Division of Water Resources, appeared before Mesquite Mayor Allan S. Litman, Council members Wes Boger, Karen Dutkowski (Called In), George Gault, Sandra Ramaker, and Brian Wursten.
She told the Council that Nevada water law (NRS 533.024) requires the State Water Engineer to prepare a “water budget” for Groundwater and must manage water resources “conjunctively” with all sources of surface water.
Ms. Fairbank also informed the Council that 2019 legislation, SB150, requires county or city governments to develop an all-source water resource plan. She also addressed the issue of conjunctive (all-source) studies.
She said that historically, the Division of Water Resources managed surface and underground Water separately. Nonetheless, she confirmed that the Water Engineer was required to prepare a “water budget” and manage water resources conjunctively. She acknowledged that the Water Engineer did have a conjunctive water model but lacked the financial resources to implement it locally.
As with the USGS water budget proposal, this effort likewise never received funding from either the City Council or the Water Board.
The 2025 legislation, if enforced:
• Requires the State Engineer to retire certain groundwater rights: This means the State Engineer can permanently remove some water rights from use, especially in over-appropriated basins.
• Revises provisions relating to temporary permits for Groundwater: AB 104 updates the process for issuing or managing temporary groundwater permits, likely tightening rules to prevent further overuse.
• Creates the Nevada Conservation and Recreation Program: This new initiative provides grants to state agencies and local governments to protect natural resources, including Water and wildlife.
• Creates the Account for Retiring Water Rights: This is a dedicated fund for purchasing and retiring water rights from willing sellers. It’s part of a broader effort to reduce groundwater withdrawals and stabilize aquifers.
• Establishes the Nevada Voluntary Water Rights Retirement Program: This program enables water rights holders to sell their publicly owned but appropriated rights to the state.
The bill also includes provisions to prevent the reappropriation of retired water rights, thereby securing long-term water sustainability.
Retiring overappropriated water rights is ambitious at best and impossible to enforce in areas such as Mesquite, where demand continually exceeds the Basin’s perennial groundwater yield.
Without an objective, all-source water budget from the USGS, along with a plan to reduce demand from excessive growth to water budgeted levels, the economic future of Mesquite remains questionable.
