State lawmakers are trying to do something about Nevada's dwindling water supply, with 19 bills under consideration.
Unlike previous years, though, concerns aren't just for southern Nevada, which relies heavily on Lake Mead for its water supply. Northern Nevada lawmakers are also concerned.
One person who thinks much about water use, especially in rural areas, is Republican Senator Pete Goicoechea of Eureka. He's the primary sponsor of Senate Bill 176, a measure that would create a program allowing the state to purchase water rights in basins where they're over-appropriated.
"The statutes say you're not supposed to mine water, but we're doing it in over half the bases," Goicoechea told KNPR's State of Nevada.
"If we can get the money available, then it tells the state engineer that he's going to have to walk into these basins... [that are] a critical management area [and] say, 'Okay, if it's over pumped and over appropriated, and it's still declining in 10 years, then you've got to curtail."
The costs of buying the water rights and the funding for the program are still unknown. One thing is clear; no one will get rich.
"You have to be in an over-pumped, over-appropriated basin," Goicoechea said. "So it wouldn't be a case of going out here and making some wealthy landowner wealthier."
SB176 will also continue to support the state's priority water laws, which allow those with the oldest water rights to draw their allotment first. He says if lawmakers were to change that precedent, it would cost the state dearly.
"There's a lot of people that do have huge pieces of water rights, particularly mining," Goicoechea explained. "They bought a lot of ranches in eastern Nevada. They have some senior water rights. I guarantee you they will sue if [lawmakers] change the law. Rightfully so, we're talking billions of dollars [from them]."
Goicoechea represents a vast swath of rural Nevada. His district extends from Jackpot, on the Idaho border, to Primm.
Guest: Pete Goicoechea, state senator
