Nevada’s top water regulator has ordered a stop to residential well drilling in Pahrump.
The order was issued this week by State Engineer Jason King in the hopes of slowing the decline of the community’s already overused groundwater supply.
The Las Vegas Review Journal reportsKing said the groundwater basin that supplies Pahrump’s water is severely over appropriated.
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The state estimates that 20,0000 acre-feet of water can be pumped from groundwater sustainably, but more than 59,000 acre-feet of water rights have been issued.
That total does not include the water coming from Pahrump’s 11,000 existing wells. The ban is an unprecedented move, but King said the line had to be drawn.