Education & Links

Many residents, particularly those who have relocated to Nye County from urban areas, are not aware that their rural water resources can be limited in quantity or threatened in quality.

The Water District seeks to increase the public's awareness and understanding of water resource issues in their community's basin and to gain their support for the measures that will be required to maintain and protect their water supply and water quality.

While Nye County's water resources occur within the boundaries of the County, the County has neither the legal nor regulatory authority to impose constraints on the appropriation or use of these public waters.  This authority resides with the State of Nevada, primarily with the Nevada Division of Water Resources. Furthermore, with 98% of the lands within the county either owned or managed by federal agencies, federal law and policy often must be contended with by both the State and the County. Thus, Nye County only has limited independent statutory authority over some aspects of sewer facilities and the development of master plans, regional plans, and local ordinances.  

For more information please see the publications / links listed.

NYE COUNTY 2011 COMPREHENSIVE/MASTER PLAN
Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) Chapter 278 -"Planning and Zoning" requires counties in Nevada to prepare and implement comprehensive, long-term master plans for the physical development of the County. The Nye County 2011 Comprehensive/Master Plan addresses the County's water resources planning goals, objective and specific policies.

PAHRUMP REGIONAL PLANNING DISTRICT MASTER PLAN
Master planning by the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission led to the development of the Pahrump Regional Planning District (PRPD) Master Plan in 1999, and its update in 2003. The 2003 Pahrump Regional Planning District Master Plan update chapter on "Water Resources" addresses the quantity and quality of available water, and long-term water resource planning within the PRPD. 

Also of interest may be information on:

Over time, water wells are abandoned when they are replaced with new wells, when homes are connected to a community water systems instead, or when an entire property falls into disuse. If an abandoned well is improperly plugged, or not plugged at all, it can be a hazard to safety and health, and a threat to groundwater quality as a direct path for contaminants to reach groundwater. Contaminated surface water, agricultural runoff, and even effluent from septic tanks might possibly enter an improperly sealed well head pipe or well casing. The Nevada Division of Water Resources (NDWR) has adopted regulations that require a licensed well driller to properly abandon a well.  The Nye County Water District is working to compile a database of known abandoned/ orphaned/unused well locations in Nye County. With the public's help, newly discovered abandoned water wells will be added to the database and correlated with the NDWR state records. Northern Nye County Water Level Monitoring A northern  Nye County Water Level Monitoring Program is being developed as an extension of water level measurement efforts currently conducted by the  Nye County Nuclear Waste Repository Project Office in southern Nye  County.  The purpose of this program is to collect ongoing data on groundwater levels and estimate the amount of water available in  northern Nye County to serve as a baseline to evaluate potential impacts  of future growth and development. Several of the wells that will be incorporated into the  program are currently being monitored by the Central Nevada Regional Water Authority; additional potential monitoring locations are also  being identified. Where conditions warrant, water samples may also be  collected and analyzed to determine and monitor water quality.