Nevada State Engineer ensures sustainable water development in the Lower White River Flow System
Order #1309 formalizes the Lower White River Flow System as a single hydrographic basin, establishes a sustainable annual groundwater pumping threshold of no more than 8,000 acre-feet to ensure responsible water usage in the basin, preserves critical habitat for the federally endangered Moapa Dace fish, and sets data-driven parameters necessary to secure the basin’s water future for the benefit of all Nevadans.
Nevada is in a new era of water management. As the driest state in the nation, responsible and sustainable management of Nevada’s limited water resources is the foremost priority of the Nevada Division of Water Resources (NDWR). As part of this commitment, today the Nevada State Engineer issued Order #1309 for one of Nevada’s most important and unique hydrographic basins called the Lower White River Flow System (LWRFS). Located in portions of both Clark and Lincoln Counties, the LWRFS basin has experienced significant growth in recent decades, in addition to numerous new proposals for expanded residential and commercial development, placing a significant strain on the area’s limited water resources. Order #1309 will serve as the basis for preventing future depletion of the basin’s water supply through respecting existing senior water rights, while simultaneously preserving critical habitat for the endangered Moapa Dace fish species.
Order #1309 recognizes the close interconnection among the various sources of groundwater and surface water and the headwaters of the Muddy River. In 2017, the Nevada Legislature directed the Nevada Division of Water Resources to recognize such hydrological connections and to manage the related water resource conjunctively. The Order formally combines six hydrographic basins and a portion of a seventh into a single basin, identifies a maximum limit on groundwater pumpage, and leverages the most up-to-date scientific data to best inform future water supply management decisions within the basin.
The Order is the result of a proactive, multi-year effort by NDWR to engage both the general public and all stakeholders in the LWRFS to update and assess the best available science and data to establish an informed baseline to guide sustainable water management decisions in the basin, protect the long-term viability of the water resource, and adequately support the survival of the endangered Moapa Dace. Based on these collective findings, Order #1309 establishes that groundwater pumping in the basin must be limited to no more than 8,000 acre-feet per year.
The issuance of Order #1309 is one of many steps that NDWR is taking as part of its overarching, Nevada-wide efforts to modernize groundwater management using the best available science and innovative management programs. NDWR and the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources recognize that given Nevada’s limited water resources it is imperative to always “know before you grow,” through utilizing contemporary data and science to fully understand the availability and long-term trajectory of the State’s water resources as the key to fostering a sustainable water future for the benefit of all Nevadans.
Learn more at water.nv.gov, and by connecting with @NevDCNR on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using #KnowBeforeYouGrow.