Jeff Fontaine

The Nevada Division of Water Resources is proposing new regulations and amendments to existing regulations pertaining to hearing procedures set forth in Chapter 533 of Nevada Administrative Code (NAC). A workshop has been set for: Monday, June 24, 2024, at 10:30 a.m.

The purpose of the workshop is to solicit oral and/or written comments from interested persons on rules of procedure for hearings before the State Engineer and pre-hearing procedures including a meet and confer between the parties. This is building from the amendments first proposed under R125-20, and intended to have continued under R142-22.

Workshop materials are available on the Division’s website at: http://water.nv.gov/

In response to NDWR’s call for nominations for the Humboldt River working group, NDWR received more than 45 nominations. From these nominations, and based on past participation, letters of recommendation, and the desire for broad representation, NDWR selected 22 individuals including four from the Humboldt River Basin Water Authority; Shayla Hudson, Bennie Hodges, Sabrina Tomera Reed and Jeff Fontaine. The full member list is shown below. The first meeting for the working group is planned for late June.

The Nevada Supreme Court yesterday on January 25th issued a long awaited Opinion on State Engineer Order 1309 for the Lower White River Flow System.  The Court found that the State Engineer has statutory authority to combine multiple basins into one hydrographic “superbasin” based on a shared source of water and to manage water conjunctively.  The Court also remanded to the District Court a review of the evidence used by the State Engineer to determine the maximum amount of groundwater that can be pumped.   

This is an important ruling that could have major ramifications for how water will be managed in Nevada, especially in the Humboldt River Basin.

Click here to read the Supreme Court Opinion.