The Humboldt River Basin Water Authority (HRBWA) meets quarterly in Winnemucca. That meeting is coming up Friday, August 11, and discussion will center on how the state proposes to manage water in the Humboldt River Basin.
The state’s “Preliminary Draft Regulations for the Conjunctive Managemetn of the Waters of the Humboldt River Basin” has been released. HRBWA Executive Director Mike Baughman urged those who have a stake in Humboldt River Basin water management to attend this meeting.
Baughman said quite a bit of time will be dedicated to discussing the Nevada Division of Water Resource’s draft regulation. That regulation will apply to management of both underground and surface water within the basin.
The draft regulation seeks to establish rules relating to water management. It will also set forth how the Division of Water Resources plans to handle conflicts between water users and water rights holders along the Humboldt River Basin.
When the process of developing and adopting the draft regulations is complete and has been approved, the final form of the regulations will apply to all those who hold water rights under the Humboldt River Decree. It will apply to those who hold groundwater rights and surface water rights. When finally adopted, the regulations propose to govern mining pit lakes and holders of storage rights in Rye Patch Reservoir. Only owners of domestic wells would be exempt from the regulations.
The draft regulations propose a mitigation program that will require groundwater users and mining companies with pit lakes to compensate downstream senior water right holders for any junior water right upstream use of water that depletes senior downstream rights. The compensation proposed is based on a complicated formula. It is proposed that the cost of administering the regulations be borne by all those who hold Humboldt River Basin water rights.
The discussion of the preliminary draft regulations for Humboldt River Basin water management is scheduled for the morning portion of the HRBWA meeting — from 10:15 a.m. to approximately 12:30 p.m. Other HRBWA matters including cloud seeding, water rights filings and several other issues will be handled in the afternoon portion of the meeting. Some time in the afternoon will be dedicated to an update on water management in Diamond Valley.
