To conserve, Nevada may try to buy back groundwater rights

Published March 31, 2023 2:58 pm

By GABE STERN
Associated Press/Report for America

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Lawmakers in Nevada are considering a bill to allow the state to buy groundwater rights in diminished basins so nobody could use them again. Officials say the demand for groundwater and the supply isn’t sustainable. In some cases, the water was overpromised decades ago from wells sunk deep into fractured rock and gravel. Water users could sell partial or full rights to the state under the bill. States throughout the West are grappling with similar issues over how to conserve groundwater, while experts are skeptical that water basins can ever reach sustainable levels. The bill will likely be amended to address questions over funding and how to implement it.

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