December 11, 2017

Commissioner John

Koenig suggested that the Shaw fee schedule be placed into the minutes of the meeting. (Shaw Engineering’s fee schedule is included). Chairman Dave Hall explained the importance to move forward with the project and information it will reveal for the benefit of the town. Dave asked the Board for a motion and vote. William Knecht made a motion to approve the agreement between the Board and Shaw Engineering to peruse the study. Joe Westerlund seconded the motion. The vote passed 7-0. Walt suggested that the motion should be amended to state “phase one services”. Oz stated that the goal is to attract enough funding to complete the first three phases of this effort. Walt Kuver withdrew his comment. During Public Comment, Wade Hinden questioned in what areas the drilling would take place? Dave Hall responded; “in areas specific to this aquifer”. Wade also asked how deep the wells drilled by Great Basin and Pahrump Utility go? Walt referred the question to Dwight; he thought 1000ft would be the deepest. John Klenke answered; one well was near 2,000ft. but most wells were between 1000ft. and 1500 ft. and offered to get more accurate numbers. Wade asked if there was any other way to study the depth of the water. Dennis Gaddy stated he has done some of that kind of work but at depths below 1000ft. the seismic mapping is difficult. Most of what is used is used for oil fields at 4000-5000ft, but maybe technology has evolved to the point where it may be useful. Dwight stated the use of Geophysics has a place in this project to detect the top of the carbonate rock how deep it is beneath the basin fill material. If the carbonate rock is within 1000ft. or so of land surface, there are other methods available to identify structures. Oz noted the use of Geophysics is in phase two of the project. During Public Comment, Kenny Bent explained the source of water in the carbonate aquifer will most likely come from cracks, fissures and faults were the water will concentrate and flow. Kenny thought it is unlikely that we would develop 8,000AF to come up to 20,000AF unless numerous wells are drilled. Dwight stated he would not rule it out, carbonate rock yields in Moapa and Spring Valley are tremendous producers tied into a regionally extensive aquifer system although there was difficulty with drawdown effects. Dwight stated there are some wells that have a capability of producing 3000 gallons a minute. Oz reminded the Board that [for example] a Development Agreement representing $45 Million Dollars for 6000 homes increases the cost per home by $7,500 therefore; we are talking numbers with consideration of some of the larger Development Agreements, with the goal to place well fields that are not accelerating the water level decline among a high density of wells. Oz noted that [for example] some projects use 40 year loans through the USDA at 3% interest. The import project report showed a cost of 172 Million Dollars at 4% interest over a 40 year note and could serve 30,000 people. The water rate would increase by approximately $26 per month. Oz stressed that the Groundwater Management Plan uses the spreadsheet that Walt Kuver put together showing a goal of 200 gallons a day per capita. This places the population tip over point for the community of at approximately 80,000 people. During Public Comment, John Bosta asked what the acronym DRI stands for. Oz responded Desert Research Institute. John asked what DRI’s relationship is with the Death Valley Flow Models where there is a 40 mile river on the west side and 6 test wells on the East side coming into Pahrump. Dwight answered by saying the DRI Model as it is currently built included the Pahrump Hydrographic Basin, stating the USGS Model is a very regional Model. DRI utilized some of the geology from an earlier version of the USGS Model and their current model they have of the valley. Dwight noted that there are groups of people working on this model and sometimes they are working in different directions. Dwight hoped that we can facilitate those groups to work more closely in the future. John Bosta also expressed concern by asking if a notice has been sent out seeking other Engineering firms to bid for this project and stated that there are grant writers out there that do not charge a fee. Oz explained there was a selection process whereby an Advisory Committee was formed by Water District Governing Board Members to select a firm to work on Preliminary Engineering Reports. Three engineering firms gave presentations and the chosen firm was Shaw Engineering. The selection process is a requirement for the funding of grants. John Bosta continued to speak after his three minute time limit, and Attorney Severin Carlson intervened and advised Dave Hall to call a recess if necessary. Chairman Dave Hall called for a 5 minute recess. During Public Comment, Butch Borasky stated that he was not present in any official capacity but talked about a man that offered to drill a well in the carbonate aquifer many years ago on the west end of town and pay for it if he could get water rights, but it is his understanding that the State Engineer will not allow a deep carbonate well, and asked if something has changed. Butch also expressed concern over the amount of money spent to do studies. Oz explained that some years back he conducted a Basin Health Report of all 44 basins in Nye County. At the time there was speculation that the carbonate aquifer was “new water”. The water rights application that was filed indicated that they wanted to drill a well into the carbonate aquifer and be given water rights as if the carbonate aquifer was new and different water, and that DWR denied the application. During Public Comment, Michael Lach asked if the $50,000 contract was for the purpose of obtaining grant money, how much money was being applied for, and if there was a scope of work for phase 2 and phase 3. Michael wanted to know what the end result would be if water was procured from the Aquifer. Oz responded by telling him to refer to the Shaw Report from last June which details all the figures. Michael recommended that the $50,000 spent on the study get reimbursed back into the Water District Budget from the procurement of grant money. During the discussion Oz indicated that he is not interested in the Water District operating as a utility and went on to discuss “in kind” funding. During Public Comment, Debra Strickland; Real Estate Agent and Well Drilling Contractor agreed with the importance of the study to explore the carbonate Aquifer.

Commissioner Koenig

asked, if he owned a lot in a domestic well subdivision where water is already dedicated to UICN because the lot is in UICN’s territory; and if he has a well; is the water dedication counted twice? Oz replied “No”, and explained that UICN and Jason King are telling Oz that his table is too optimistic, and seems to think there are more water rights that are committed to lots that are held by UICN, but cannot be verified by records. If this is true, there is more of a deficit that originally thought. Oz commented on a meeting he had with Reporter Robin Hebrock from the Mirror, explaining the project Hamilton Reed was involved in regarding the lack of complete records in trying to capture the over dedication numbers. Oz also noted his meeting with at Rick indicated that DWR will use Place of Use maps and other documentation to assess areas where water was previously dedicated in support of the domestic well subdivisions. Nye County Water District Board Member Joe Westerlund commented that someone in Tonopah would like to make a Public Comment. Chairman Dave Hall stated he would finish up with the Board comment first and make a motion before addressing Public Comment. Board Member Walt Kuver made a motion to submit the letter under agenda item #11 to the State Engineer’s Office. Dennis Gaddy seconded the motion. During Public Comment, Michael Lach directed his comment to Oz asking for clarification on #4 Domestic Wells (above) specifically where someone would buy water rights. Oz replied there are individuals in the basin that keep a list of folks with water rights for sale, but doesn’t know what is available for sale. In looking at the table where Water Rights are held, Michael assumed the place to purchase water rights is from irrigation because everything else is dedicated to something. Oz noted that looking at the last basin summary, there is some 9,000AF of Water Rights that is held in agriculture, and a fair amount of water that is held in Quasi Municipal, and numerous owners in the basin. Michael asked how many wells could be drilled if all the irrigation rights were purchased with consideration to 3AF for every one well drilled. Oz remarked that he has not made a recommendation at 3AF. Oz said if he had to guess, he thought the State Engineer would require 2AF. Therefore you could drill 5,000 wells if you owned all the agriculture rights. Oz has already been created. Michael expressed concern over 3,500 lots not having the ability to drill a well. Planning Director Darrell Lacy pointed out some of the 8,500 parcels already has had Water Rights relinquished. Oz noted that some of the lots could already be in a domestic well subdivision and the effort in trying to determine where is an ongoing effort. Michael Lach expressed concern over the possibility of the consequences related to this issue. Oz stated the fact that there is enough deeded land at the same density of Las Vegas, to grow the population to ½ million people [in the Pahrump Basin], but only enough water to support 80,000 people. Michael Lach asked Chairman Dave Hall if there was anyone in Pahrump that would defer time to him for Public Comment. Chairman Dave Hall stated there are people in Pahrump that would like to comment. During Public Comment Kenny Bent stated that he agrees with over dedication tied to the land but sees this as a deterrent to drill a well due to the cost involved. Kenny suggested that the agenda item be brought to the BoCC because he thought addressing this item was going behind the BoCC’ s back. Oz remarked, that under enabling legislation, any action that the Water District Governing Board takes, can be overturned by the BoCC within 30 days and also stated that Commissioner John Koenig is present at this meeting and it is an unfair accusation that the Water District is going behind the BoCC’ s back. During Public Comment John Bosta stated he is the Chairman of the Private Well Owners Co-op and asked to have a seat on the Groundwater Management Advisory Committee which was denied because of not having water rights issued by the State Engineer. John expressed concern that the figures of water in the valley are incomplete. John also stated that the State Engineer only has authority over artesian water and not percolating water. John went on to further dispute the calculations presented and stated them as fraud. During Public Comment Dwight Lilly suggested that the agenda item be brought to the BoCC because he said Dan Schinhofen mentioned that there was never going to be an attempt by the Commissioners to take water away from domestic wells. Dwight also mentioned that he was approached by two Realtors, with concerns that their clients will have to purchase Water Rights before drilling a well. Dwight inquired about the lack of State Engineer’s review and signature of subdivision maps, there is basically a confusion of the records. Oz added that those records do not reside at the Division of Water Resources. During Public Comment Gregory Hafen spoke as the former Chairman of the Groundwater Advisory Committee, stating the goal of the Committee was to create an equitable Groundwater Management Plan for the Pahrump basin that balances the water supply and demand for today and in the future. The Groundwater Advisory Committee’s intent was to protect the current water users which include the current domestic wells and to reduce water consumption for new water users to coincide with Nevada Water Law for first in time first in right. Gregory spoke of the State Engineer scenario to rule on priority which is why the Groundwater Advisory Committee came to be to prevent that from happening. Gregory stated on a more personal note from the Hafen family entities, the Hafen Family currently owns over 30 vacant lots that could potentially be affected by a domestic well order. During Public Comment Wade Hinden talked about a rumor that was said to have required 3AF of water rights to drill a well. During Public Comment Debra Strickland of Strickland Construction explained the procedure of and intent to drill form and an additional form that has to be forwarded to the utility tariff for permission to drill, and asked why the Utility Companies aren’t giving water rights back to the State because they are no longer going to service those areas. Debra stated that she will be drilling 3 out of 11 wells in a utility tariff area where water rights should be given back to the State. Debra explained that if there are not water lines within 180 feet of a property, the utility cannot decline the approval for a well to be drilled. Debra announced she can earn money by accommodating everyone by drilling wells for them or sell them water rights, which she has available to sell, or we can actually fix this problem by getting the water rights out of the Municipality that is never going to service. Oz reminded the Board that the issue of drilling domestic wells in the tariff area, is that some Calvada subdivisions were dry and there were no water rights given up, so this needs to be looked at on a lot by lot basis by DWR. Oz stated since we put pressure on the Groundwater Management Plan the population in this community remained in the 38,000 range, according to the Nye County population estimates, but the pumpage inventory has increased about 1,000 AF per year. Unintended consequences are; people will now use water rights more often for preservation, and there will be an increase in drilling of domestic wells. Oz added that it is not beyond the State Engineer’s authority to issue a temporary that says, “No more intent to drills will be approved in Pahrump until we sort this out”. Debra Strickland of Strickland Construction announced that Oz did a great job in drafting the letter to the State Engineer, but she made the recommendation to have the letter address the tariff areas. Debra directed her attention to Commissioner John Koenig and asked him to bring it forward to the BoCC, and noted as a realtor herself, there are no Water Rights available for sale in her office.

Commissioner John

Koenig pointed out that State Engineer Jason King agreed that water rights already dedicated in a tariff area, would not be included. John went on to explain the preferred method is that of relinquishing water rights therefore are removed from the books, whereas dedication is the procedure of moving water rights from one place to another which does not resolve an over appropriation problem. During Public Comment Walt Turner (Realtor), suggested putting together a committee of 20 interns or students for a 6 month period, to sort through and create an updated filing system for water rights documents. During Public Comment Boris Carlyle asked to defer his time for public comment to Michael Lach. Attorney Severin Carlson announced that according to Open Meeting Law standards, speaking time is limited to 3 minutes per resident unless you are a representative of an entity. Michael Lach remarked that he timed someone for 7 minutes during Public Comment in Tonopah, and then added, that was a violation of Open Meeting Law and encouraged Attorney Severin Carlson to let him continue to speak. Attorney Severin Carlson engaged Chairman Dave Hall and stated that he believes Michael Lach was given an excess of 3 minutes to speak earlier. Chairman Dave Hall replied, “Yes, we did”. During Public Comment Todd Joyce (Realtor), expressed concern over the term “entitlement” and read from the Nevada Statue that states “water in the boundaries in the state of Nevada, surface or subsurface water belongs to the people”. Todd stated that when Government tries to take Water Rights from other people, the result is that they are fired or sued. Todd questioned if Nye County considered the cost associated with the possibility of a lawsuit. Chairman Dave Hall asked Oz if after hearing the public’s comments, there is a need to change anything in the letter to the State Engineer. Oz stressed; what he hasn’t heard from the public is how to adjust the math to allow for enough water to grow the population in the community in relation to the amount of land available for development. Oz reminded the Board of the approved contract with Shaw Engineering to explore the Carbonate Aquifer, but stressed that you cannot continue to add commitments to the water resources in the basin. Oz engaged Commissioner John Koenig asking for his input on bringing the letter before the BoCC.

Commissioner John

Koenig explained that the Water District Governing Board has the authority to present the letter as written. John stated that he is comfortable with the letter to be presented to the State Engineer and feels if an agenda item is brought to the BoCC to review the letter; it would be a waste of time because he felt in his opinion, it would be met with a 3-2 vote approving it to be presented to the State Engineer for consideration. The vote passed 5-2 on the item. Oz stated the letter will be mailed out to the State Engineer within the next few days.