Interview Transcript
Bob Firth
Q: The regional water planning commission is re-evaluating how much water is out there. That's what the Scan tech study is all about? What did you find out?
A: Yes that's correct. First all we did an in depth analysis of all the original water rights on the Truckee River and its tributaries. From that, we tried to determine what they are currently being used for and then what the current status is of any of the inactive water rights. After we did that then we tried to assess how much of those water rights would be available for use to serve future development.
Q: After assessing water rights -- what did the commission come up with for future use?
A: It was difficult to determine exactly and I don't think we can ever do that, but we came up with a range of about 200 acre-feet that potentially is available for future growth. That will depend on the aggressiveness of our acquisition program.
Q: If we come up with that much, is that going to make the river bone-dry in a drought or is that just enough we can comfortably use?
A: Well, you have to look at both in the normal years and the drought years. In the normal years, that isn't going to have a substantial effect on the river. In the drought years, it will definitely have an impact but it's not necessarily impact because of additional growth. It's just the fact that you've had a low water supply that particular year but the water rights that are being dedicated for development are also required to provide drought protection and the way that operates is the excess water rights that are dedicated will be stored upstream in the reservoirs. Then during the drought period, those water rights will be released to support natural flows in the river.
Q: And they are trying to plan for a 10 year drought, right? Think that is realistic? Will we see a 10-year drought?
A: Yes, it's possible. We've seen several 7-year droughts -- almost anything is possible. They tell me that there are historically droughts that lasted 30 or 40 years but there is no way to know that for sure because we have a relatively short record of actual flow in the Truckee River.
Q: We live in a desert. At some point we will reach the limit of what water is here. How do we balance development with available water supplies?
A: I think that is what the Regional Water Planning Commission is going through now. We have in place an approved regional water management plan which looks at water supply, waste water, flood control, and drainage. Under state law, we are required to update that plan in 5 years and that's what we are doing right now. We are going through updating that plan. Part of that update would be to look at the available water resources, compare that with the projected growth patterns and then see how we can most efficiently use that water to take care of future growth. We are not really just starting -- we've been working on it maybe 4 to 6 months. It's a relatively long process, but we will be getting in to that part fairly soon now that we have the water rights study done.
Q: You have a big background and a lot of information about water in this area. What do you see as happening? Will we have to finally say, Hey we just can't do this anymore?
A: I think that is a decision for the political people, the ones who do land use planning and approve projects. When we get to the end of or near the end of our resources that are locally available -- and that is primarily the Truckee River and local underground resources -- then you start having to look at something like importation projects and of course, those are, historically, fairly expensive. They usually have environmental and political problems. There is water in other valleys surrounding Truckee Meadows that could be brought in here, but the cost of that and the effect on the cost of a new home and that sort of thing -- we don't know what that at this point but we will attempt to evaluate that in the update of our study.
Q: Do you think it is going to be more through restricting people's water use or will it just become so expensive that people can't afford to buy it? That's what's going to have to happen if you import water, right?
A: It will be more expensive than the resources we have available now. Whether it will be so expensive that it will limit growth, I do not know at this point because it will depend on where it is coming from and the length of the pipeline and all the facilities required to get that water here. So at this point, I don't think I could answer that question.
Q: Even if it is not an economical question it is an environmental question, isn't it? I mean, how much water can you take?
A: It will clearly be an environmental problem or an issue in the place you are going to export that water from because that will leave that particular valley with less water supply than it has at this point and then there is always going to be environmental impacts on importation projects.
Q: If you take the water rights market itself, it's not worth gold yet, but water rights are going to become very, very, valuable. What do you see happening with the water market prices?
A: Well, over time, the water right prices have gone up. Certainly, it's like everything else. I guess it's demand and supply: as there are fewer and fewer water rights available I suspect the prices will probably go up, and I don't know if there is anything you can do about that. That's just the way the system is going to work.
Q: What do you see happening 20 years from now? What do you think it will be like living here in Reno, living in the west, living out in the desert? Think life will be different for us?
A: I don't think it will be too much different. I think that we're just going to have to get very active in looking at the resources that we have available. And not just water -- we have to look at waste water, flood control, storm drainage, air quality, transportations, schools, all of those things fit into the mix, not just water. But we are going to have to be sure that we are using whatever we have wisely and we are using it in an economical manner so that it's providing service to the customer at the lowest cost we can do.
Q: But, there's going to be a limit . . .
A: Well, there will always be a limit. Let me put it this way -- there will be a limit on the resources we have locally available. Now, if you start looking at importation projects -- and I don't know what the limits are there -- but there will even be limits on those.
Q: So, what do you think of projects like down in Las Vegas where they bring in their water off the Colorado river? I mean, they have already used up everything they've got in their area and they have to bring it in from other areas.
A: Well, they are looking at that. They've done a lot of very sophisticated things in Las Vegas, like they have a very impressive groundwater recharge program down there. They have some of the best conservation programs I've seen in the western United States. They've really done a good job in using their water wisely and they have an allocation from the Colorado River which they've had for years and the way I understand it and again I am not an expert on Las Vegas, but they are working with Arizona and California to try and make other Colorado River water available through agreements with those states.
Q: But at some point aren't you robbing Peter to pay Paul?
A: To a certain extent, sure. It's the age-old question of, Do you take the people to the water or do you bring the water to the people? You do one or the other.
Q: If you own a ranch, you can sell off some of your water rights. But if you sell off all of your water rights what becomes of that ranchland? It just dries up?
A: Well, if it's not going to be developed, yeah, but that just very seldom happens. Say the agricultural land is going to be developed for some purpose -- those water rights will be used to serve whatever development goes on the land.
Q: Will we eventually run out of the ranchland? Is everybody just going to sell out?
A: There is really not all that much left now. In the study that we just completed, there just is not a lot of what you call farmlands left anymore. There are a few large parcels, when you look at some properties out in Spanish Springs that are still being farmed, the university farm out on Mill Street that belongs to UNR and whether that will ever develop or not, I don't know, but it's a farm. There aren't very many of those left in this space.
Q: That's not the only place to get them -- there are still some water rights around, say under the streets, under the freeways, there are still some water rights around that aren't agricultural, right?
A: That's right and in our state, we've identified a lot. There are a lot of water rights that are still attached to existing lots, sub-divisions. There have been subdivisions for 20 or 30 years and the water rights still remain on some of those lots.
Q: So, would you know if your house had more water rights that could be worth money?
A: You would have to do the required research. There are a number of sub-divisions around town where all the lots still have the small water rights. I have to do the research to determine that and find out how much is there.
Q: So, that is what people at TMWA are doing?
A: I assume so, but the real purpose of our study was to try and determine where those water rights are and how many of them are going to be able to be acquired -- the water under the streets and highways, and that belongs to the cities and the county, NDOT, and that sort of thing. Those water rights will be available at some point in time, I would think, and we've identified those in our work as best as we could. All those pieces are part of the 20,000-40,000 acre-feet that is available and they have to take that with all the other issues, schools and streets and whatever they need to look at and then say well, here is what we have to work with and here's how much growth that will support. As far as water goes, it's really important where the growth is too. [We can t]ake Truckee River water rights out there -- we're already doing that but you have to take a lot more -- and to do that, you have to take up some of the water that's available for Truckee Meadows. Then you've got to get the water there somehow or other, but I don't think I agree with Emily [Braswell] when she says the infrastructure is there, because I don't think that's true -- they've never designed the infrastructure for that kind of density.
Q: I don't think people are going to move to the west to live in an apartment. Do you know what I mean?
A: Absolutely not, you saw that study, didn't you, a few weeks ago in the newspaper? Somebody commissioned a study, they interviewed a thousand people or two thousand people. And actually that's fine, that's a way of life. People who move out to the West, typically Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, they are people who like their elbow room -- that's why they are here. They are trying to get away from jams.
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