U.S. Water News Online
PHOENIX -- A state official says Arizona should refuse to permit groundwater to be pumped from a region of extreme northwestern Arizona to serve a growing area of neighboring Nevada.
An Arizona administrative law judge recommended the Department of Water Resources director deny the application by Wind River Resources, an Arizona limited liability corporation.
Wind River wants permission to pump water from the Muddy Creek aquifer in the Mormon Wells area north of Beaver Dam and transport it to the Virgin Valley Water District in nearby Mesquite, Nev.
The application, which has drawn opposition from area residents, called for exporting 800 acre-feet per year to start and increasing to 14,000 in 2045.
Some residents in Beaver Dam and neighboring Littlefield worry the project could leave their wells dry.
Judge Thomas Shedden said in his recommended order the application should be rejected because Wind River failed to update key aspects, provided inaccurate information and did not submit hydrological studies on the proposed pumping's probable impact on the Mormon Wells area.
That leaves the Department of Water Resources without enough information to decide whether Wind River had satisfied Arizona's requirements, including whether the exported water would be used for a "reasonable and beneficial" use in another state, Shedden said.
Wind River contended it submitted all the necessary documentation to support its application and that its project would not harm existing water users in the lower Virgin River basin.
Wind River also contends the state law requiring it to obtain Arizona's permission to export water is unconstitutional. Shedden said that argument is premature.
Department Director Herb Guenther has until Nov. 29 to make his decision, which could be to accept, reject or modify the recommendation, department spokesman Jack LaVelle said.
Wind River is expected to go to court if Guenther denies the application.
State Rep. Nancy McLain, a Bullhead City Republican whose district includes the Beaver Dam area, welcomed Shedden's recommendation and said it fit with testimony she heard during hearings on the application.
McLain said she opposed the proposed transfer. "I don't think we have enough water in Arizona to ship it off to other places," McLain said.
The Arizona regulatory action on the proposed transfer comes amid skirmishing among Southwestern states on other regional water issues.
Utah lawmakers have drawn fire in Nevada for requiring a federal study of a Las Vegas-based water agency's plan to draw groundwater from eastern Nevada near Utah, while Arizona has asked the federal government to settle a dispute over proposed changes to a Colorado River drought plan.
Arizona, Nevada and Utah are among seven states that draw water from the Colorado River, along with California, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming.
A bill to toughen the current Arizona law on exporting water was proposed earlier this year in the Legislature. Though the Wind River Resources project was cited as an impetus for the bill, officials said the proposed legislation could not have applied retroactively to the pending application.
The bill's sponsor, Republican Rep. Trish Groe of Lake Havasu City, also cited an anticipation that growth from the Las Vegas area would spill into other parts of Arizona's Mohave County.
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