SB 76 was a huge water grab by the federal Bureau of Land Management. It was introduced and championed by Senator Dean Rhoads.
The Nevada Committee for Full Statehood and the Nevada Live Stock Association worked tirelessly to defeat or amend SB 76. It passed the Nevada Senate 20 to 1 but, thanks to some courageous Assemblymen, SB 76 was amended in the Natural Resources Committee to remove the water give away. Those courageous Assemblymen were: Carpenter, Christensen, Goichechea, Geddes, Marvel.
Below you will find an excellent analysis of the SB 76 before it was amended, which was condensed from a Guest Editorial by Wayne Hage.
Senate Bill 76, introduced by Senator Dean Rhodes, (R) Elko
was intended to amend 140 years of Nevada water law allowing the federal land management
agencies to acquire water rights presently owned by Nevada ranchers and farmers.
SB 76 is billed as remedial legislation answering to a Nevada Supreme Court overturn of
District Court Judge Gamble's ruling. Judge Gamble ruled that the Bureau of Land
Management and US Forest Service do not qualify for stockwater rights in Nevada because
Nevada law requires an applicant for stockwater rights to be able to put the water to
beneficial use. The BLM and US Forest Service own no commercial livestock.
The Nevada Supreme Court overturned Judge Gamble's decision, holding that the State Water
Engineer must allow the federal agencies to apply for water rights on unappropriated water
on the "public lands".
Senator Rhodes, in his water bill, then proceeds to ask: How can we amend Nevada's water
law to allow the federal agencies to demand all or a portion of a privately owned water
right from Nevada's farmers and ranchers? The result of this question is the conveyance of
private water rights into the hands of the federal government without compensation.
The quest for control of the world's fresh water reserves will probably prove to be the
defining natural resource issue of the 21st century. In some places today, a barrel of
fresh water is worth more than a barrel of oil.
Here in Nevada, we have had numerous entities vying for control of Nevada's waters. Vidler
Water Company, Las Vegas Valley Water District, and others, have been buying and seeking
to control as many water rights as possible.
The federal government has participated, seeking to use the BLM and Forest Service as
surrogates, to wrest water rights away from private individuals and into the hands of
government and its creditors. Most of the water in Nevada is controlled by the state's
farmers and ranchers. The basic strategy behind the water grab is to use environmental
rules and regulations through the BLM and USFS to drive ranchers out of business. Then
some entity, such as Nature Conservancy, can obtain control of the ranch and its water for
pennies on the dollar. Nature Conservancy, or some other environmental group, can then
convey the valuable asset to the hands of government or the government's creditors, at a
handsome markup.
SB 76 will be an extension of this ongoing effort to take control of Nevada water
resources and convey them to outside entities where their full profit potential can be
exploited.
The Nevada Supreme Court did not rule that the state engineer must issue water rights to
the BLM. It only stated that the state engineer must allow the BLM to file on
unappropriated waters, if any of those exist.
SB 76 opens the door for the BLM and USFS to extort water rights from private individuals
and/or drive them out of business in the process. The valuable water resource then
eventually finds its way into the hands of one of the water monopolies. In the meantime,
if some property owners wake up and bring a "taking" and compensation action
against the federal government for the value of their property, SB 76 has shifted
liability from the feds to the state of Nevada. Nevada taxpayers would then pay the bill.
The best solution though, is for the individual water right holder to make sure their
title to water rights and fee land is perfected. Remember, the Nevada Supreme Court only
said BLM could apply for unappropriated water on public lands. The U.S. Supreme Court has
clearly
stated: "It is well settled that lands to which any right or claim of another
attaches is not public land". Grazing allotments are not public lands and the water
rights on them are not unappropriated.
Nevada water law created these rights and has protected them well for almost 140 years.
Let's not tamper with success. Leave the amending of Nevada water law alone, but make sure
we use Nevada water law properly.